


Thicker than Water

by strangerahne



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blend of PV and current characters, F/M, Fluff, I forgot what fluff was, I said slow burn, Identity Reveal, Maybe some angst, Miraculous Ladybug Love Square, Other, Season 3 Spoilers, Sibling AU, Slow Burn, a kind of death, angst is happening more?, but can I do it?, magic ladybugs reverse it, pv characters, reverse love square kind of, swearing happens, there is a beta reader sometimes, will update tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 57,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22983040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangerahne/pseuds/strangerahne
Summary: After a revealed Gabriel and Nathalie escape from battle, 17-year-old Adrien has to move in with his older brother Felix.  All while across town, Marinette's beloved cousin Bridgette moves in to help with the family business.  Both teens have to figure out how to juggle identities, love, and what it means to be family, all while searching for the man who threw their lives into chaos.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Chloé Bourgeois/Luka Couffaine/Kagami Tsurugi, felix agreste/bridgette cheng
Comments: 117
Kudos: 99





	1. Family Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is my first fic! I hope you like it! This can be dialogue-heavy, so sorry >_< Also, I don't have a beta reader right now, so if you see any edits or suggestions let me know, please! Always looking to improve my writing!  
> Update: I have some people who have agreed to beta read some stuff for me! I will be going through the previous chapters with them and editing them for clarity and flow.  
> Thanks all!  
> Betas:  
> Multimousemari - https://archiveofourown.org/users/multimousemari  
> fandomchildd - https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomchildd  
> zenmisery - https://archiveofourown.org/users/zenmisery

Adrien watched the city pass by through the car window. The events of the last week replayed in his head over and over again. All the interviews, the police reports, and the looks from everyone around him. The headlines broke the news cycle, he knew he would have a while til things died down. His life in the short span of one night had been turned into chaos. That night on the Arc de Triomphe, as Ladybug and Chat Noir battled Hawkmoth, they had never guessed it would end this way. 

_The wind blew the rain sideways as fists were exchanged between them. Mayura was fighting against Chat, and losing ground quickly. With a quick blow, Chat knocked her flat, and managed to pin her. “Nathalie!” Hawkmoth screamed as Chat ripped the broach off her. Chat looked up at him, just as Ladybug grabbed the butterfly miraculous and his transformation dropped. Under the helicopter spotlights there was no denying that the man in front of them was Gabriel Agreste._

A small pinch from Plagg brought him back to the present. Adrien glanced around before he stepped out of the small car and looked up at his new home. With his father gone, and most of the assets seized for investigative purposes, Adrien had to move out of the mansion. He was instead moving in with his older brother, Felix. Thankfully, the Gorilla had helped Adrien to figure out how he could get a hold of the majority of his things from the house before they could be claimed for the investigation. While they no longer had access to the fancy car his father had, the Gorilla luckily had one of his own that worked just as well. 

The two of them grabbed the bags and a trunk out of the car and made their way up the stairs. Felix lived in a fairly nice apartment near his university. He lived up near the top to get away from paparazzi and for what he called, “more sophisticated air.” Felix hadn’t really talked to Adrien since he had left the house for university 3 years ago, right after their mother disappeared. Adrien couldn’t blame him for not coming home for “family dinners.” He rarely did when he could get away with it. But anxiety about the uncertainty of living in a new place made his stomach turn. 

Once at the top floor, Adrien walked up to the door and just stood there. Hit with the realization of all that was happening, he froze. Felix was all the family he had left. His father, if you could even call him that at this point, ran off with Nathalie, wanted terrorists. And his mother was gone. But Felix, they had been close once. His hand extended but stopped just shy of the door. A heavy hand fell on his shoulder. The Gorilla nodded at him with a smile. He set the bags down next to Adrien. Fishing keys from his pocket, the Gorilla walked down the hall to the only other apartment on the floor and unlocked it. With one final nod he went inside and shut the door.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Plagg asked, looking up from his spot in Adrien’s shirt pocket. 

“I don’t know, what if Felix doesn’t really want me here? It has been years since we have spent any real time together.”

“Then we do what we have always done. Go run the rooftops, or hang out with pigtails. Plus, you will be 18 soon, then we can get a place of our own and eat all the camembert we want in every room!”

“I don’t know about _all_ you want, but that does make me feel a bit better.” Adrien smiled, “Thanks Plagg.” With a deep breath, Adrien knocked on the door. 

*****

Felix looked up at his clock. It was half-past the hour. Adrien should be here by now. Why wasn’t he here yet? Standing up from his chair on the balcony, he straightened his vest and walked inside. He heard the door down the hall shut, and promptly looked up. That must be them. He knew Lamont was moving in down the hall so he could help Felix and Adrien with anything. The bodyguard was a family friend who knew their mother, and had always been protective for both boys once their mother disappeared. He even kept in touch after Felix moved out.

Felix walked up to the door, expecting a knock at any moment. But there had still not been one by the time he got there. Had he been mistaken? 

Felix looked through the peephole and saw Adrien just standing there, one hand raised. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” said a voice that came from Adrien’s shirt pocket. Felix scrunched his brow in confusion. Leaning away from the peephole. Adrien must have a friend on the phone or something. 

“I don’t know, what if Felix doesn’t really want me here?” Felix froze at Adrien’s words, “It has been years since we have spent any real time together.” He knew he hadn’t been home in a while, but had it really been years? He has been cozy in his life here, away from his father’s expectations and constant scheduling. He was free to just stay at home and read as he wished, or to go to the university library and study philosophy and literature. Had he really been gone for so long that Adrien would doubt what he meant to him?

A knock on the door snapped him out of his spiraling thoughts. Shaking his head and straightening his vest one last time, Felix opened the door. Standing across from him was not the young 15 year-old kid he remembered. The boy who had literally looked up to him, gone. No, here stood his 17 year old brother, almost a man, and just as tall. 

“Hey Felix,” Adrien said, smiling as if he hadn’t just stood outside the door for sometime.

“Hey Adrien.” A brief silence passed before Felix, quickly stepped aside, clearing his throat, “Please come in. I can help you with your things.” 

“Thanks.” Adrien smiled as he picked up the bags, “That one shouldn’t be too heavy.” He said pointing to the trunk. 

Felix went to lift the trunk. He found that what Adrien had classified as ‘not too heavy’ was in fact just that. 

“What is in here Adrien? Bricks?”

“No, some of mother’s stuff. And some of yours that we were able to get out of the house before we had to leave.”

As the Agreste brothers walked into the apartment, the silence settled again. The apartment was modest in size. It was very organized in its chaos, but warm. Books stacked in piles with papers and notes nearby. The August sunlight poured in from the patio, beams streaked through the room, warming up the couch that sat along the wall facing the kitchen. The smell of old books and coffee enveloped the brothers. It weaved in with the air, only to be changed with the incoming smells from outside when the occasional breeze dared to dance through the space, ruffling pages as it went. Compared to the mansion the Agreste brothers had grown up in, the space was miniscule. But the space, despite flaunting Felix’s signature studious style, was infinitely more inviting. 

The kitchen, sparsely used, had very few dishes in it. Only a well loved kettle and a moka pot sat on the counter. The laundry space had a few faded notes in neat curly writing taped to the wall, and soaps and hampers neatly organized nearby. A small table and chairs sat in the corner, covered in neglected papers and dust. The rest of the wall space was taken up by bookshelves, with the occasional chair between them. There were tall bookshelves filled with anthologies and books of all shapes and sizes. Shorter shelves were littered with fern plants and coffee mugs scattered on top. All in an organized sort of chaos that spilled out of the room and onto the rooftop patio. 

Only a few truly personal touches here and there really stood out. A photo of their mother hung on the wall above the couch. A small pink orchid and a photo of Felix straight faced surrounded by people his age all smiling sat on a coffee table near the couch. A violin case leaned against the wall, dusty from neglect. The room, overwhelmingly colored by browns, greys, and blues made a dust rose mug with a “B” on it stand out.

“It isn’t much, but it’s home.” Felix sighed, “Your room is this way.” 

“You can leave the trunk in here Felix, I think you may want to go through it together.”

“Of course.” Felix set the trunk down near the dusty violin, and turned to walk down the short hallway. “Here on the left is my room and study. The right is the bathroom. Please remember to keep your showers less than 30 minutes, the hot water doesn’t last as long as it does at the mansion. And your room is here. It isn’t much I know, but it serves its purpose.” 

Felix opened the door to Adrien’s room, and moved off to the side, letting his brother move past before leaning on the door frame. Felix watched as a smile inched its way onto his brother’s face as he surveyed the small room. The room was furnished with a loft bed with a desk underneath. A package of poster gum sat on the desk, and a floating closet stood along the opposite wall. Adrien could see the thought Felix must have put into the room layout. It was a smart use of the space that felt very much like Felix’s style.

“I know your room was much bigger at the mansion, but I got the best mattress I could find and moved my books out into the living room for you,” Felix said, looking off toward the ceiling. “So if you need anything else, just let me know. If it is within reason we can work something out.”

Adrien turned to him and pointed to the corner of the room, “What’s the bike for?”

“You. Lamont procured it for you.”

“Lamont?”

“...The Gorilla… He has a name Adrien. You do know that don’t you?”

“Uh, no, I suppose I didn’t.”

“Oh. Well, he got you the bike. Since he can’t work for Father anymore, and still has to have a job, he can’t really take you to school anymore. But since you are closer to the school now, he got you the bike to help you get there faster.” 

“Oh. I didn’t know I was closer now.”

Felix straightened up from his spot in the doorway and started to brush off imaginary dust. “Yes, well, I have some more studying to do for class, so I will leave you to unpack. Linens are in the closet in the bathroom.”

With that, Felix shut the door behind him and walked back out the living area. He sighed as he picked his book up and walked back out to the patio. That hadn’t gone nearly as poorly as it could have, but he would need to figure out something if he didn’t want every conversation to be so awkward. He supposed he could always thank his Father for his inability to loosen up and just be sociable. But then again there was a lot he could “thank” him for right now. And starting down that path of thinking would get him nowhere. 

*****

_Marinette looked down at the man she had known for the past 3 years as Hawkmoth. As the transformation fell and the familiar face of Gabriel Agreste became more clear, she froze. She watched in slow motion as he looked at her, face twisted, hand lunging for her throat. The shock was slowly wearing off, but not fast enough to stop him. She felt her head hit the concrete below her, and the broach slip out of her hand with a bounce. Oxygen slowly made its way back to her lungs. What felt like minutes had only been a few seconds. Seizing his opportunity, within the small time frame Hawkmoth had the miraculous pinned back on himself, transformation called. Ladybug got back up, ready to keep going, only to be stopped by a body in black colliding with her. Chat groaned separating himself from her, grabbing his head. They both looked up as a giant sentimonster appeared. Hawkmoth and Mayura were already running away._

Marinette woke with a deep gasping breath as she sat up. She grabbed for her phone, checking the time. It was only 6 am. She still had time before she needed to be at the school, but not enough to go back to sleep. Not that she would get any. Tikki yawned before flying up to Marinette’s face. 

“Good morning Marinette. Did you have the dream again?”

“Yeah Tikki, I did. I can’t help it. I messed up. And now Hawkmoth and Mayura are who-knows-where and Adrien has to leave his house and I let Paris down.”

“Marinette, I don’t think you let Paris down. No one could have guessed that Hawkmoth would be Gabriel Agreste.”

“But I did Tikki, years ago.”

“But the shock of it all can’t be held against you. You have been doing your best for so long now. Plus now everyone knows who he is, so it is only a matter of time til you find him.”

“I guess you’re right, but I am just so tired Tikki, you know? I keep having to figure these things out as I go. And yeah, I have Chat, but I don’t really have anyone else I can talk to about this. My parents can’t know about this, and I just... I am so… stressed out. I feel like I need a break.” 

Tikki flew forward, hugging Marinette’s cheek. “It will all be okay, Marinette. You’ll see. Plus, who knows what the future will bring!”

Marinette smiled and reached up to hug Tikki back. With a quick sigh, she climbed down from her bed and walked over to her desk. If she was gonna be up early, might as well be productive. She could easily finish the new dress she had been working on before she had to get ready for the day. Plus it would help her keep her mind off things.

Marinette moved on to other projects after she finished the dress, only stopping to get ready once her phone’s alarm went off. She slipped on the finished grey box dress, and turned to do her hair in the mirror. She swept her hair up into a high ponytail. Afterwards, she slipped a soft pink belt across her midsection to give the dress a little shape. She didn’t need to be too fancy. After all, she was only going to school for a few meetings with the other class reps to help plan events before school started again. Slipping on a matching pair of pink flats, she turned to leave her room. 

As if on cue, the trap door opened. Ahead of long midnight blue hair popped up, revealing Marinette’s cousin, Bridgette. 

“Hey Maribug!” Bridgette exclaimed, “Nice dress.”

“Ah, thanks Bri. I just finished it this morning.”

“Sabine made breakfast, I was sent to tell you.” Bridgette started down the stairs, voice fading as she moved away. “She said since you don’t have your meeting for a while, we could have breakfast as a family. Something about vacation plans, I think.”

Marinette smiled at her cousin as she followed her . They had always been close; their relationship was more like sisters than cousins. Bridgette had come to live with Tom and Sabine when Marinette was about 5. Her parents passed away, and so she had moved from China to France to live with her next closest relatives. The girls had become one other’s confidants, never wavering in their constant connection. Even when Bridgette lived in China while studying for her business degree, they talked via skype or email as often as they could. 

Marinette walked over to the table and joined her mom and cousin.

“Where’s Dad?” Marinette asked. 

“He’s still down in the bakery, fixing some stuff up with the employees about the new location,” her mom replied. 

Through the years, the bakery’s business had exploded. Marinette’s parents’ success had led to the need for more employees, which meant that Marinette never really needed to go look for a part time job anywhere for spending money, and neither did her cousin. It was always busy, but ever since Jagged Stone had endorsed the bakery in an interview, it had been extra busy. It was so busy in fact, that when her parents had decided to open a second location, everyone couldn’t help but sigh in relief; even knowing the coming chaos that would come with that.

That was where Bridgette came to help. While she went to school, she found that she was really good with numbers and had learned a few things about business. So when her parents started talking about needing a manager for the new location, she was more than eager to volunteer. They had agreed under the condition that Bridgette come back home and live with them in the coming months to fully understand how they wanted the bakery to run before finding a place near the new location. That, and she had to finish her schooling and complete her degree. Sabine and Tom didn’t see any point in her throwing away all she had done so far when she was only a year from finishing. 

Marinette couldn’t help but smile everytime she thought of the selflessness and love her parents showed for the situation. Bridgette really didn’t need a degree to run a bakery, but her parents insisted on her having her education. They wanted to pay her appropriately for it even though they knew Bridgette had always wanted to go into the family business. She’d been saying so ever since the day she moved in with the Dupain-Chengs. But Tom and Sabine never wanted her to feel like she had to work at the bakery. Just like they did with Marinette. They wanted both girls to have the freedom to chase their dreams. Bridgette had always been in constant movement. Bubbly and supportive, fierce and loyal. Bridgette was a force to be reckoned with when it came down to it. Which is all the more reason her parents wanted her to be sure before settling for a career at the bakery. 

“So Bri said you wanted a family breakfast, anything important to discuss? We haven’t had these lately unless we need to talk all together.” Marinette asked. 

“Ah, yes,” Sabine replied, “actually we do have some things to talk about with you girls. We have some plans for the vacation time the bakery will be taking soon, but I’ll wait til your dad gets here to go over it. He will want to explain the bulk of it to you.”

“Is something not okay?” Bridgette quietly questioned. 

“Ah, well-” Sabine started.

“Good morning my lovelies!” Tom exclaimed as he opened up the door, stepping into the house. 

“Morning, Dad,” Marinette said, “although I suspect I’m the only one you haven’t said good morning to yet. I’m sure Bridgette has been working with you this morning, and Mom never forgets to say good morning to you when she wakes up.”

Bridgette giggled at the smirk that Sabine gave her husband. “Mari has a point, you know. You two never go a morning without being as sweet as the pastries you sell.”

“Yes, well, while that is true, and we could go on all morning about this, we do have some things to discuss before Marinette needs to head to the school. Tom honey, come sit down.”

Tom sat down in his spot, the family table full. As breakfast passed, he cleared his throat.

“Now girls, your mom, Sabine, and I have some news to tell you. During the vacation break here, we will be going to Italy. Grandma Gina isn’t well and we need to go help her out while she recovers. Apparently she had to have an emergency surgery the other day after a minor motorcycle accident, and we all know she won’t take the time to slow down and heal. She’ll be okay, but will need some extra help. She gets released from the hospital in a few days so we will leave to go help her then. But that being said, we need you both to stay here.”

Before either girl could protest, Sabine cut in, “We need Bri to stay here to help make sure everything is going smoothly with the work being done for the new store, and Marinette sweetheart, you know you have responsibilities here... with your school and such. Plus recovery is supposed to take about a month and a half , but we all know she won’t do what she should and it will end up taking longer. We can’t risk either of you missing school for this, or not having someone here when the bakery needs to open again.”

Bridgette furrowed her brow before replying, “So that is why you were talking to the employees this morning, right? To make sure everything would be okay in case we had to open without you?”

“Yes.”

Marinette looked from her parents to Bridgette as they continued to talk about the logistics of the bakery opening without them. Her mind raced to all the possibilities that could go wrong with her grandma. Before she could think of a good way to come along to Italy, a flash of the previous battle with Hawkmoth flashed through her mind. She couldn’t just leave Paris. Not after what had just happened. Even if she had taken the horse miraculous with her she wouldn’t have the same reaction time as if she stayed like her parents wanted her to. 

“Okay Maman, Papa, I understand. Please give Grandma Gina my best.” Marinette said solemnly. She usually loved being Ladybug, but right now not so much. Her phone beeped at her, a reminder that she would need to leave soon.

“Well, we better not let the food Sabine made go to waste. Let’s eat together before Mari needs to leave.” Tom smiled. It was one of his signature smiles that said it would be okay, and Marinette sent a quick prayer to the kwamis above that her dad wouldn’t be wrong. 


	2. Mischief and Miscommunication

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien really needs to learn that walls in apartments are thin.  
> Bridgette and Felix learn some stuff.  
> We get some Bridgette/Felix backstory.

Adrien sat down at the desk in his room and started to set up his computer. He was able to get the tower from his old room, but only recently got something to use as a monitor. Since he wasn’t 18 and didn’t have access to the trust fund set up by his mother, he had limited money. So a small monitor was all he could get right now. Quite the downgrade from his three large ones at the mansion, but it worked. “This isn’t so bad, right kid?” Plagg asked, zipping around the room, “I mean, this is no mansion but at least we got a nice space. And look! A little space just for me!”

Plagg flew over to a small alcove in the wall near the desk. It looked like it had been originally for a candle of some sort to sit in, but now it was being transformed into Plagg’s little sanctuary. After all, as Plagg suggested, it was the perfect size for him. Plagg grabbed a sock as a finishing touch and snuggled into the alcove. 

“How am I going to explain to my brother why I have a singular sock and some smelly cheese near my computer?” 

“Just tell him you have good taste.”

“Plagg, we’ve only been here for a few days, and you’ve almost been caught three times already in your constant quest for cheese. My brother probably already thinks I am weird for always smelling like your smelly cheese, and having to come up with weird cover stories for disappearing and why there was a weird cat bug mouse thing flying in his kitchen. The last thing I need is for him to think this is something I would actually do. We are just barely starting to talk like we used to. Plus he can’t find out about the whole being Chat Noir and having my dad be my arch-nemesis thing. Secret identities, remember?”

“Okay, fine, no cheese. But I'm keeping this sock up here.”

“How about I find something small to make up some kind of bed for you instead? I could say it is where I put my watch or something.”

“You rarely wear that watch unless you are going somewhere to represent the Gabriel brand though.”

Adrien sighed, “Then I guess you better get used to sharing a space with a watch.”

A brief silence passed, only interrupted by the clacking of the keyboard as Adrien set up his computer.

Plagg looked at Adrien, before smirking at a genius idea for mischief, “What if you ask Ladybug to make me a little bed? She said she sews, and she has to be better at it than you.”

Adrien paused and thought about it for a moment before replying, “No, I don’t think Ladybug would want to do that. It would be an interesting topic to bring up on patrol later, though. It’s something lighter than what we _need_ to talk about, that’s for sure.”

“You mean Hawkmoth?”

“Well, yes, but also guardian stuff. I think that even though I am having a hard time, she probably is feeling even worse. Knowing Ladybug, she probably blames herself for what happened, and I think I can help out just a little by taking more guardian responsibilities. Plus I got the book back, since Father left in a hurry, so maybe we can translate it. Figure more out about being a guardian.”

“Oh yeah, the book. I almost forgot.” Plagg stretched out mid-yawn as if to exaggerate his boredom at the mention of the book. “Where is that dusty thing anyway? I didn’t see it when we unpacked.”

Adrien’s head shot up, eyes wide. “What do you mean, Plagg? I thought I asked you to put it in the duffle bag once you got it from the safe.”

Plagg stared at him blankly for a moment before yawning one more time. “I don’t remember. Maybe if you gave me more cheese I would be able to remember that the Gorilla put it with the other books to be packed with your mom and Felix’s things. And I think I could maybe remember that it might be in the trunk you brought up but I am not sure. More cheese would help me remember for sure.”

Adrien glared at him quickly before standing up and silently walking to the door. He gave one last glance back at Plagg as a warning before opening the door to his room. He walked down the short hallway to the living area. Felix looked up from his chair nestled between two bookshelves as Adrien entered the room. He gave Adrien a confused look before setting his book down.

“Do you need something, Adrien?”

“Ah, it’s just... I can’t find a book I thought I had packed. I think it might be in the trunk of Mom’s stuff I brought. Did you happen to go through that yet?”

“No, I thought it was something you wanted to go through together.”

“Ah, yeah, that would be cool. Can we do that now, then? I kind of need the book for some...stuff I have been researching with some friends.” 

“I suppose we could. Should I put the kettle on? Or would you prefer coffee?”

“I can get some water Felix, it’s fine.”

“You don’t want to drink the tap water. There has been some maintenance on the building’s plumbing lately, I would boil it first.”

“Oh, then tea is fine. Thanks again.”

Felix stood up and turned on the burner that the kettle had been sitting on. He walked over to the small table in the corner and started to clear it off. 

“We can put what we go through on here,” he said. Felix turned, and jumped slightly. There was Adrien, trunk in hand right next to him, standing silently as if he had always been there. “How did you do that?”

“Do what?” Adrien asked, confused.

“Nevermind. We can just use this table.” 

Felix watched quizzically as Adrien lifted the trunk up as if it weighed nothing, which he vividly remembered to not be the case. He knew Father had made Adrien do fencing, but while Felix had stayed fairly fit, he found the trunk to be a slight struggle. Did Adrien also work out more, somehow? He was under the impression from his brief talks with Lamont that Father rarely gave Adrien time to do anything, and when he did it was spent with his friends at the movies or something. He did have a rock wall in his room at the mansion last Felix had checked, but it had been years at that point. The kettle whistled, snapping him out of his thoughts. Felix poured two mugs, then walked over to where Adrien had opened the trunk. 

“So, what all of Mother’s did you pack, exactly?” he asked Adrien.

“Well, I knew you would want some stuff that she had left specifically for you, such as the book she wrote for you when we were little, and a few other things like that.”

“I see. I have been wanting that book back. I could never get Father to part with anything of hers. Even if it _was_ technically mine.”

The brothers silently went through their mother’s things, piles of photos, and small trinkets wrapped in a shawl were at the top. Below that were books. So many books. Books of literature, books on art, books about philosophy, books she had written for them when they were boys, and books full of sketches. 

Their mother had always loved the arts, but not in the same way their father had. Where he saw art as a way to profit, she saw it as a way to live. They both silently reminisced whilst leafing through the remnants of their childhood. They thumbed through the well-loved pages of the stories she would recite before bed, the poems they had memorized together, and the plays from around the world that she would help them translate. 

Felix set down the book in his hand, looking down at the trunk to assess the remaining contents. There were a few miscellaneous things and several journals. He picked up two, handing one to Adrien. Opening the journal, Felix was greeted by his mother’s handwriting. He felt tears, long since dried build up behind his eyes, threatening to spill. The looping script described a beautiful day they had spent in the garden together as a family, bringing back a flood of emotions he thought he had long since parted with. With a hitched breath, Felix looked up and saw Adrien, reading a journal, tears streaming down his cheeks, though his face was hard as steel. Adrien took a deep breath before looking back up at his brother, snapping the journal shut.

“This one is mostly about Father,” Adrien whispered as he set it aside.

“Ah. I see.” Felix nodded, “Are the rest of these her journals then? I see a few more shawls and a blanket in here, but no more books-” 

A thick tome that Felix vaguely recalled seeing after his parents came home from Tibet fell out of the blanket he was picking up. Before he could say anything, Adrien scooped it up.

“Ah, this is the book I was looking for. And no, there are a few pieces of jewelry in there too. Specifically the family rings. Father had stopped wearing his some time ago, and I was able to find them both before we left. Mother always wanted us to have them, so I grabbed them. Also, the two rings that grandmother willed us to use in the event of finding someone special are in here. Gori-uh... Lamont... thought it would be a good idea to have those too.”

“I see.” Felix hummed in reply. Silence fell back over the two of them as they sipped their tea. “I suppose I could fit all these on a shelf if I rearrange some things, but we may have to get a new bookshelf for them. Or perhaps we could use some of the alcoves around the apartment.”

Adrien nodded before replying, “I could stop by and get a bookshelf from the store if you want.”

“It’s fine I can just order one online or something.” Felix sighed. He looked down at the pile of journals on the table. “Do you think you are… are you… are you okay?” 

Adrien looked up, “What do you mean?”

“Like, I mean, I left right after Mother disappeared, so I was able to cope with her loss in a way that you probably weren’t. And I mean, I never saw Father, so I was able to mourn him along with Mother, in an odd way. So this whole... _him being Hawkmoth_ thing isn’t really hitting me that hard. But this has to feel… fresh… for you.”

Adrien let out a half-hearted laugh before looking up at the ceiling, “Oh, yeah, kind of. I don’t really mourn Father, he hasn’t been present in my life for much other than to tell me how I’ve been letting him down since before Mom. I’m mostly just angry.” 

Felix stared at his brother not wanting to interrupt him. Adrien figitted slightly. He set the book down and grabbed his head, leaning forward before continuing. “I don’t blame you, by the way. I mean, I used to, but I figured you probably hated being in that house as much as I did, so I understand why you left. I guess, to answer your question, I am...doing. Not really bad, not really okay. Just doing for now. And also, thanks. You didn’t have to take me in, but I am glad you did.”

Felix froze and looked his brother in the eye. Adrien flashed him a model smile, and grabbed the book, standing before he could reply. 

“Thanks again Felix, it means a lot.” With that, he left the room.

Felix sat staring at the space his brother had been in. He knew that he could be cold, but he had hoped his brother knew he loved him. Then again, they hadn’t talked in almost 3 years if you didn’t count the usual holiday pleasantries that were exchanged at the occasional family party that they had both attended. It had never occurred to him in his escape from his Father that he would be abandoning his little brother. 

One thing was for sure. No matter how put together Adrien seemed, he needed to see a professional.

Contemplating which counselors were available in his area that would actually be able to help, Felix put the cups in the sink and started to wash them. He stopped suddenly when he heard the voice again.

“But I don’t see why this book is so important. It’s dusty and smelly, and not the good kind of smelly at that.”

“We’ve been over this Plagg. It’s very important, you know that. It can give us some more information to defeat Hawkmoth, plus it could help out Ladybug.”

“I know, I know. I just think you should take it easy, kid. I’m sure Ladybug will understand. You went through a lot that night too.”

“Ladybug can’t do this alone without Chat Noir, Plagg. She needs me, we need each other. Now help me figure out how we’re gonna get to patrol.”

Felix froze. At that last sentence, Adrien was talking about Chat Noir. He was sure of it. It had to be Adrien, the only other person who lived on this floor was Lamont and he was never good at impressions. It had to be Adrien. 

It all hit Felix like a ton of bricks, Adrien was Chat Noir. That meant he needed to leave so his brother could transform and get to patrol. That meant that Adrien had been there for all of the fights. Adrien had been the one to fight, the one to put his life on the line these last 3 years. Adrien was there on the Arc de Triomphe when their father was unmasked. Adrien has been fighting _their father_ for the last 3 years. He was shaky on how he would deal with helping take care of a teenager, even an older one at that, but a super-powered teenager was something else. 

First things first. Make this easy for now, and then he could talk about it with Adrien later. Yeah, later. Talk later. Leave now. 

“I’m headed out, Adrien. Be back in a few hours,” he yelled down the hall, quickly puttine on his shoes and coat. He grabbed his keys and tried to make as much noise as he reasonably could, to leave no question that he was, in fact, leaving. 

Once out the front door, Felix made a show of shutting the door, and loudly locking it. He then stood very quietly, ear pressed to the door. He heard a mumble of the two voices. One Adrien, the other this _Plagg_ creature. Finally, he heard “Plagg, claws out!” before stepping away from the door, only to turn to find Lamont. Not knowing what to do, Felix composed himself, cleared his throat, and pointed to the door.   
“Adrien,” he said.

Lamont nodded before opening his door. “I know. I’m not sure how Gabriel never figured it out.”

“Wait, you knew!?” 

“We can talk more inside. I can make tea or whatever you’d like. It might help you calm down.”

“Yes, tea. Good idea. Tea. Air, and tea,” Felix mumbled to himself, walking past Lamont and down the stairs. It was gonna be a long night.

*****

Marinette was sitting in the living room with her family when her phone’s alarm went off to remind her about patrol that evening. 

“Ah, um, I’m gonna go upstairs to, uh, work on some commissions and stuff, so uh, I won’t be available for stuff, and I might be on my balcony, so don’t bother if something comes up I might be asleep. Yeah, asleep. Anyway, love you, ‘night!” 

As she ran up the stairs, Sabine and Tom both chuckled to themselves. A confused Bridgette was left to wonder what was going on. 

“What was that?” Bridgette asked, looking incredulously at Tom and Sabine. 

“Ah, she has some _stuff_ to do. Always at 6 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And sometimes Saturdays, too.” Sabine answered.

“But it’s Wednesday,” Bridgette stated.

“Yes, well... given the events of last week, we imagine this is more of a cautionary thing,” Tom said.

“I am so confused. What are you talking about?” Bridgette asked. 

Tom and Sabine just glanced at each other and smiled, before breaking out in laughter. 

“I suppose this did all start after you moved out. You’ll figure it out soon enough, Bri darling,” Tom replied. “And when you do, promise you will help her out while we’re gone. Right now we’re doing our best to keep life pretty smooth for her. Marinette has a lot of very delicate cakes in the oven right now, so... promise you’ll do your best?”

“I mean, yeah, of course. But I’m still confused.”

Sabine looked at her sweetly, putting a finger to her lips and indicating for Bridgette to follow. They walked through the apartment and into Tom and Sabine’s room. Sabine pointed out the window that was opposite their bed. Bridgette walked over and looked out.

“I don’t understand. What am I-” and then... there it was. There _she_ was. Ladybug swung out from somewhere above them. Bridgette’s eyes went wide as she looked over at her aunt and uncle. Her mouth was moving, but no words made their way out.

Tom started laughing while Sabine led them back out to the living room. 

“That’s our Maribug, I tell you. Always out to save the world, whether in a suit or not. We couldn’t be more proud.” Tom beamed. “But know that we only told you this ‘cause she is _terrible_ at hiding it. She thinks we don’t know, but we’ve known for years now.”

“Exactly. We’ve been keeping it secret for her, but we assumed you’d figure it out, since you’ll be living here while we’re gone. Plus, we know you aren’t Hawkmoth or Mayura since, well... they’ve been unmasked. But that doesn’t mean you can tell anyone. We haven’t told her friends, or any other family.”

Bridgette just sat there, stunned. “Wait. Back up. So how have you been helping her?”

“We’ve been covering for her, helping her make up alibis, keep her home responsibilities fairly flexible and just being there for her after hard battles. This last one was a doozy, but we’re doing our best to be there for her any way we can,” Sabine explained.

Bridgette started nodding along, “So that’s why we’ve eaten all her favorite foods lately, huh?”

“Yep, _and_ why we’ve been making more macarons lately. We aren’t one hundred percent sure what they have to do with her being Ladybug, but somehow they help the little floating bug thing she calls Tikki,” Tom excitedly chimed in.

“Okay, so then how can you stand to watch the fights on the news? Knowing it’s her?” Bridgette asked.

“Oh, we are awful messes when it comes to that,” Sabine replied. “Tom cries a lot. Usually we try to drink lots of tea.”

Bridgette just sat there, stunned for a moment, “Uh, I.. I think I need to go for a walk.” 

Bridgette started moving through the motions of what she would need for a walk. She was in such a daze, and so lost in her own thoughts, that she didn’t notice her aunt and uncle snicker at her shock, or that she forgot her purse when she left. No, she was focused only on walking. Once she hit the warm summer evening air, humid with the rain that had been off and on for the last few days, she just started in a direction. 

She walked a few blocks until she noticed a crowd, looking up and pointing. Her gaze followed up to the rooftops where she saw black and red run past. Ladybug and Chat Noir. Both were running patrol. Without a lot of thought, Bridgette started after them. She followed their patrol pattern for quite some time, until she saw them stop and sit on a roof near Notre Dame. They sat tucked away from the edge, in a spot that was shielded from the weather. Hidden enough to not really see what they were talking about or doing, but in a spot where if you knew where to look you could find them. 

A breeze blew past, upsetting the stagnant, sticky air. Bridgette spotted a coffee shop nearby and decided to walk in and have a drink to help her contemplate what she had just discovered. It wasn’t until she’d ordered her coffee that she realized she didn’t have her purse. 

Embarrassed, she started to stammer, “Oh geez, I am so sorry, I don’t have my wallet. Normally I don’t do this. I am so sorry.”

“It's okay, I can pay for the lady,” a voice behind her said. Bridgette noticed the barista’s eyes went wide before turning around. Behind her stood a very stoic and well dressed Felix Agreste. 

_Bridgette peered around the corner of the University building. There he stood. Felix Agreste. With his mother having just disappeared, he was the epicenter of the current campus gossip and the recipient of even more questioning stares. Whispers of who could have done it echoed everywhere he walked, but that wasn’t what had interested Bridgette._

_No, she wanted to know what made him laugh._

_She had first met him in her Chinese lesson. She made a bad pun that translated poorly, and then, just like that, his hand came up to his mouth to cover the smile that she could see in his eyes. She wanted to see him smile again. She was determined to befriend him. Even if he thought he didn’t need one, she could tell he needed someone._

_Unrelenting, Bridgette would keep trying every day to talk to him more, to get him to show a little bit more of who he was behind the mask of the perfect son. Slowly, as she learned more about him, she began to fall in love. She found herself involving him in everything she could, from clubs to how to make croissants. She kept falling more and more each time he would let down his walls and smile at her for just a bit. She started getting bold in their relationship, constantly asking him out on dates. He would always refuse. Insist they were never dates, but would go with her anyway. They spent more and more time together; at his apartment with friends, in her dorm room for quiet study, at coffee shops to do homework together._

_But then, she went to study in China. She thought for sure, with how close she thought they had been, that he wouldn’t just ice her out. So she sent him messages about her time there when she could, and waited for his replies. Always hoping that on the rare days she got to contact her family and friends in France that there would be a new message from him. But it never came. So by the time she got back to France, she had just stopped trying._

“Felix.”

“Bridgette.” Felix nodded at her then pushed past her to get to the counter. “ I would like a hot americano please. No cream.”  
The barista nodded and took the payment, quietly eyeing the two of them. 

“It has been a while since I last saw you, Bridgette. What brings you out today, and without a purse no less?” Felix questioned as they headed to a table near a window. 

“Ah, I um… I uh, just learned some….family news, and needed to take a walk.” Bridgette replied. She looked down after finishing and noticed that Felix was wearing two different shoes. Both were oxford dress shoes for sure, just one had brogues, the other did not. “I thought you lived closer to the university, what brings you here? It couldn’t have just been sentimentality for our dates at one of our old haunts, could it?” 

Felix stiffened, “They weren’t dates if I never agreed to it. Th-they were study sessions,” he stammered, “nothing more.”

“Right, right,” she looked up to stare him straight in the eyes, “so, why the mismatched shoes Fe?” 

Felix’s eyes shot wide open as he looked down to see his two different shoes. A blush spread across his face. He opened his mouth about three times before replying.

“I will have you know that my family has had a few changes lately as well. Which I assume you knew, unless somehow you have been under a rock for the last week... which I would believe, honestly.”

“A rock? I will have you know I live above a bakery again, not under a rock.”

“I have a mocha and an americano for Felix.” The barista said, interrupting them to set the drinks on the table.

“Ah yes, that is us.” replied Felix. 

They both stared as the barista set the drinks on the table and walked back to the counter.

“But yes, I did hear about your family’s….situation. I’m sorry you’re going through that, Felix. What happened to your brother?”

“Ah...he moved in with me.” 

“Oh, he did? I thought for sure he would have gone to live with an aunt or something.”

“He was going to at first. Our mother’s sister in London was going to claim him, but I told her that it would be best if he stayed in Paris, since he was so close to being done with school. Plus the authorities aren’t wholly convinced that he knew nothing about our Father.”

“The poor kid. I think I heard my cousin say he is about her age. Seventeen, right?”

“Yeah. He has a lot on his plate. We actually had a talk earlier, and, well... I think I know how I can help him, however I am not sure how best to go about it.”

“I understand, I’m in the same boat with my cousin. Our grandma Gina is sick, so Tom and Sabine have to go take care of her. And since I’m staying in their house to learn the ins and outs of the bakery before managing the new branch... you should come to the grand opening, by the way... they asked me to help look out for her. But I’m not quite sure how to do what they do in that sense, you know?”

Felix looked at her blankly for a second before blinking and putting on a calm and collected face again. “Ah, yes. Congratulations on the opening of a new location. That must be very exciting.”

“I spill all this stuff to you and you focus on the bakery?” Bridgette asked, one eyebrow raised. 

“Well, I don’t know how to help you in this instance. Nothing I have ever read explains how to deal with those sorts of things. How to handle existential dread, maybe. But how to help your teenage cousin, the grand opening of a business, and your grandmother’s illness... no idea.” 

“It was worth a shot, I suppose.” Bridgette replied.

Sipping her drink, she looked out the window. Ladybug and Chat Noir had exchanged something, and parted ways, swinging back across the city. Bridgette found herself wondering what that must feel like. To be above the city; to fly through the air.

“That must feel freeing, don’t you think?” Felix said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Huh?”

“To swing above the city. To run across the rooftops. It must feel so freeing.” 

“I suppose. But it also comes with a heavy responsibility. They were so close to ending it this last time, I can’t imagine how they’re feeling.”

“Yeah, me neither. They’ve been fighting Hawkmoth for about 3 years now. It must be hard on them, knowing that they were so close and that no matter how well they handled the situation, some people will never be happy with it.”

“They can’t be much older than 16 or 17. I wonder how they do it.”

“Bri, why the sudden interest in them all of a sudden. I don’t remember you talking quite so much about them before.”

“I suppose it’s just en vogue. The story’s all over the news, so one can’t help but wonder, you know?”

Felix nodded, then sipped his drink. The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for quite some time, before striking up small talk about how they had been. 

After a while, they both finished their drinks and went to leave the shop. They stood outside, the air thick with the coming rain, neither looking at the other.

“I really enjoyed catching up with you, Bridgette.”

“I enjoyed it too, Felix. I just wish it hadn’t taken so long.”

“You know Bri, just because we broke up, it doesn’t mean we can’t hang out like this,” Felix said, turning to look at her. 

“Oh Fe, we never broke up,” Bridgette said through a sad smile.

“But-”

“It’s like you said earlier, you can’t break up when you were never dating to begin with.” Bridgette turned to walk away as the rain began to fall. Felix stared after her as she went, watching as the raindrops turned her shirt into a dark grey. 

“I’m sorry Bri,” he softly whispered, hoping someday she might hear him.

*****

Ladybug walked over to an overhang on the roof and sat down. Chat walked over and sat down next to her, sighing as he wiggled a brick out of place from the wall behind them and pulled out the grimoire. 

“How did you get that back, Chat?” Ladybug asked, eyes growing wide.

“A cat has his ways,” he replied.

“Chat, I’m serious, how did you get that? Do you know where Hawkmoth is? Did you find him?”

“Whoa. Slow down, Bug. No, I don’t know where he is. But, seeing as how he left in such a hurry that he even left his underage son behind, I figured I could... look around his house a little and found this.”

“But how did you get access to his house? There’s been law enforcement there almost twenty-four seven. They wouldn’t even let _me_ in when I asked. So, no offense, but how in kwami’s name did you get in?”

“My Lady, I think you know I can’t answer that without giving away too much about myself. I mean, I would be happy to tell you who I am of course, I've told you before how I think it might help with guardian duties, but I will never push it. But speaking of, do you think we can translate this? And if so, do you think it can help you out with learning more about being a guardian?”

“Oh, I hope so. We’ll have to work on it together, for sure. I think this could also help give us a lot of information we will end up needing. I haven’t seen this since before Master Fu left. I have been trying to remember how to make various kwami power up recipes and such and this will be so helpful.”

“That’s good. I’m glad I was able to help you.”

“Now if we could only figure out where Hawkmoth went.”

“I actually am working on that. I got some more books and stuff from his house, but I can’t really take them anywhere right now without raising some suspicion. I just recently got a roommate so I have to be a bit more careful now.” Chat paused briefly, a light in his eyes as he remembered what he wanted to say next. “Oh, but a cool thing is that my new room has this little alcove in the wall. Plagg wanted me to ask you to make him a little kwami bed.”

Ladybug nodded her head and hummed. “Ah yes, I actually know about that.”

“What, how did you know?”

“Well, you must have been sleeping, but last night Plagg came over and told me about the alcove. He asked me to make him something good for cat naps. Here. I have it with me.”  
Ladybug opened her yoyo and pulled out a small black and green fleece pillow, the perfect fluffiness. 

“Plagg will love it. I just wish the mischievous booger would have told me he already talked to you about it instead of trying to convince me that it was a new idea this morning. But this is perfect, Buginette. Thank you.”

“Oh, well, you know creating is kind of my thing… so… yeah.” 

Chat laughed at her. “Thank you bugaboo, for always being here for me.”

“Of course, Chat. We’re always here for _each other_. What is Ladybug without her Chat Noir? Especially lately. The citizens seem more divided about us than they did when we first started fighting the akuma.”

“We will figure something out, I’m positive. In the meantime, I do have a question for you.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“How do you feel about maybe getting some backup for us? Like some kind of permanent backup, you know? Like, we could give Rena or Carapace their miraculous more permanently, and split up patrol schedules. That way we aren’t spreading ourselves so thin. Don’t get me wrong bugaboo, it will always be me and you against the world, I just think it would be smart to have some preemptive backup.”

“I think that could work well, actually. Do you know who they are? I don’t remember if you know who everyone is. I remember giving you the rundown after you tricked me into splitting guardianship with you.”

“It wasn’t really tricking you. You said the words with little prompting.”

“That’s beside the point, Chat. Do you know who they are?”

“Yeah, I know who Carapace is. I figured out it was Nino a while ago during one of the times we did some training stuff together. But I am only 85% sure that Alya is Rena. We all know who Queen Bee is, and I know Vipereon and Ryuko. Past that, I couldn't tell you who is who unless I thought really long and hard.” 

“Uh, yeah that’s right, actually.” 

“And of course I _still_ don’t know who you are, and you don’t know who I am, which I think is silly, but whatever you think is best.”

“Chat, I just... I don’t think we should know yet is all.”

“I get it Bugaboo, really I do.” Chat dropped his arms, exasperated. He looked down at his boot lightly scuffing the rooftop. “But anyway, if you have the bracelet with you, I’ll see Carapace either on my way home or tomorrow. I have some stuff to do around town and just happen to know he’ll be where I’m going.”

Ladybug pulled the turtle miraculous out of her yoyo, handing it over to Chat. “Okay, that works. I’ll see Rena soon, so I can give her hers. And remember! Don’t lose it, Chat.”

“I never have, My Lady.” He smiled at her as they both got up to stretch before heading home.

“Marinette.”

Ladybug stiffened. “Wh-what?” she stuttered.

“I know Marinette is Multimouse,” Chat replied, a small smile spreading on his face.

“Oh. Right. That hasn’t happened in a long time though.” 

“Which is too bad. She did a good job,” he shrugged with a sad smile still on his face. “Oh, and we both know who Bunnyx will be. At some point, that is.”

“Ah, yeah that’s true.” Ladybug yawned. 

“Well My Lady, I think it’s time for you to retire before you turn into a pumpkin.”

“I suppose I should.”

Chat bowed to Ladybug, kissing her knuckles before straightening up and saluting one last time as he vaulted away. Ladybug turned and decided she should take the long way home so she could swing by Alya’s place. She could feel the air, heavy with the rain that threatened to drop. She scrunched her face in disapproval of the possibility of more rain. She shook her head before throwing her yoyo and swinging away towards Alya’s house, anxious to get this over and done with so she could go home and get some well-deserved sleep.


	3. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh. People are learning things real quick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have the new chapter a bit early, as a treat.

  
  


Marinette checked her reflection for the fourth time, changing her hair again.

“Relax girl, you look great.” Alya interjected, “Plus I doubt Adrien will care much if your hair is swept to the left or to the right. He will probably just be happy to see his friends after everything that has happened.”

“I know, but he has been on a sort of quarantine cause of the press for a week now and none of us have really talked to him. I just-”

“I get it, you still hardcore like Sunshine, that’s fine. But if you don’t stop changing your hair you are gonna go from a cute messy bun look to full out sleep-deprived bi-disaster here.”

Marinette just glared at her best friend. Alya’s phone went off, indicating that Nino was there and ready to head out together. As they headed out, Bridgette handed them a bag of pastries to take as a house warming gift with them, while Tom and Sabine were chatting with Nino as they placed their bags in the taxi outside. They stopped when the girls got outside.

“Now, we will message you when we land, have a good time with your friends sweetie,” Sabine said as she pulled Marinette into a hug. Sabine glanced over at Alya, questioning her as she pulled her into a hug as well. “That is a beautiful necklace there Alya, is it new?”

“Ah, yeah. Kind of. Thanks for noticing.” Alya replied.

“Of course we would notice! What would that say about us if we noticed Nino’s new bracelet but not your necklace?” Tom boomed, shooting a quick wink to Sabine before he ducked his large frame into the car, “Take care kids, and take care of each other, okay?”

Alya and Nino stared at each other for a brief moment before smiling at the Dupain-Chengs and waving as they began to drive off. 

“So shall we go then?” Nino asked.

The trio walked to the apartment building’s address that Nino had pulled up on his phone. Once there, they noticed that it was something that looked closer to what they would live in that anything Adrien probably ever had. 

“So, top floor?” Alya asked

“Yep,” Nino replied. 

“Do you think there is an elevator or just all stairs?” Marinette asked.

“This building looks old, would you trust an elevator here?” Alya rebutted.

“Good point.”

They walked inside, past the old man at the desk on the bottom floor, and up the stairs. The August heat did not make things any easier for them as they went. Once they reached the top floor, Nino pulled out his phone one last time to check which of the two apartments it was. Once they had it figured out, the three huddled around the door as Nino knocked. 

There was a slight shuffling heard from behind the door, before it swung wide open to a smiling Adrien. 

“Hey guys! Come in, come in! Oh, please take your shoes off, Felix prefers if we don’t wear them inside.” Adrien ushered his friends inside, “Do you want something to drink? We mostly just have different types of tea and things to help make coffee. Felix actually just left to get some juice and a few groceries.”

Adrien continued rambling, unaware of the slight concern on his friends’ faces. He stopped talking only once he looked up. 

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Adrien, my dude, are you really okay?” Nino asked, reaching out to him.

“Yeah, well, as okay as I can be,” Adrien confessed. “Look, I know you’re all worried, but can we please not talk about what happened? Felix has me signed up to go to a doctor about it and I really don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Marinette reached out with freehand, “We understand Adrien.”

“Yeah Sunshine, we get it. Why don’t you give us the tour before we dig into the pastries we brought.”

Adrien’s eyes widened at the mention of the pastries, seeing the bag in Marinette’s hand for the first time. “Yeah, tour, uh, it will be quick. This is the main living area. Down that hall are mine and Felix’s rooms, and the bathroom. That way is the patio. It is smaller than anything I’ve ever been in, but I like it. So pastries?”

Nino, Alya, and Marinette laughed at Adrien’s eagerness to get to the food. They all sat around the room in various places, before digging in and talking. They all caught up on various topics, ranging from Tom and Sabine’s trip, and the twin’s latest antics, and how Chris was handling the newfound responsibility of getting his wish of being older. They were deep in conversation when Felix opened the door, a bag of groceries precariously perched in one hand. 

“Oh, here Fe, let me help,” Adrien said, as he jumped up from his spot on the couch, grabbing the paper bag just before it could tip over. 

“Ah, thank you, Adrien. “ Felix replied. 

“Yeah, nice save Sunshine.” Alya chimed in.

Felix looked up, just noticing the other people in his home, his glance stopping on the pastry bag. “Ah, is that from-”

“Oh, the pastries, Marinette’s parents own the place, so she brings treats sometimes,” Adrien explained as he went to put the groceries in the kitchen area.

Felix looked over at Marinette and stared for a moment, as recognition settled over his face. “Ah, you must be Bridgette’s cousin.”

“Ah, yes, I am. I didn’t realize you knew her.”

“Bridgette?” Adrien asked.

“Oh, She is Mari’s cousin. She used to live with her before she went to university, then studied in China for a while. You probably didn’t really meet her,” Nino explained.

“Ah, yeah. I didn’t realize you probably hadn’t met her yet. Sorry, Adrien.” Marinette turned towards Felix, “But you know her?”

“You could say that.” Felix replied before pointing to the bag, “Is there by chance an almond croissant in there?”

Alya looked in the bag before digging in and retrieving the requested pastry. 

“Thank you,” Felix said, walking towards the kitchen area to put the groceries away. 

“Anyway, Marinette, how have the class rep meetings been?” Adrien asked, sitting back down with his friends, “I know as your vice president I was supposed to be there this week, but haven’t had a chance to. Is everything going smoothly?”

Marinette looked away from Felix and at Adrien as she started to explain some of the topics of discussion that had happened at the meetings. She told him that she had also brought him notes for them to go over. After Alya and Nino declared that to be a boring topic, they switched to talk more about the new Ultimate Mecha Strike game coming out soon. Eventually, as the four friends kept talking and laughing, things evolved from mere conversation to card games and more. Happy to finally have time to hang out together none of them seemed to be keeping track of time until Alya and Nino’s phones both rang out with a calendar notification. 

“Ah, we got to go. We have some reservations for a date we had planned for today. Sorry to cut the visit short.” Nino explained standing up.

“Mari, are you gonna stay longer?” Alya asked as she moved to join her boyfriend. Marinette looked over at Adrien, trying to gauge his reaction on if she should stay. His smile took no time to convince her. 

“Ah yeah, so long as Adrien is okay with it. We can go over the class rep notes together this way, and not bore you.”

“Yeah, I am totally cool with it!” he replied quickly. 

The four friends got up and said their good-byes, and Adrien led them to the door. After closing it behind them, he turned around to see Marinette putting the dishes in the small kitchen sink. Adrien also looked over to see Felix out on the patio. Suddenly Adrien felt very conscious of the fact that they could possibly disturb Felix’s studying.

“Hey Mari, if you don’t have to do that. We can continue talking class rep stuff in my room at the computer if that will be easier.” Adrien suggested.

“Oh, yeah that could work,” Marinette replied, her voice a little bit higher than normal as a slight blush dusted her cheeks. 

“If you want to head back there, I can finish up here real quick.” Adrien said, “Mine is the one farthest back.”

Marinette blinked at him a few times before she nodded with a smile and headed back. Once she was out of the room, Adrien heard Felix cough.

“You okay Fe?” he asked.

“I am fine. But you should know Adrien, even with the door closed, the walls are thin.” Felix replied with a slight blush to his face. 

Adrien’s eyes went wide as he felt his face heat up. “Ma-Mari is just a friend, Fe.” He stammered, voice slowly getting quieter with each word, “ It isn’t like that.”

Adrien quickly turned from his brother and walked down the hall. He could feel Plagg snickering against his chest. Little traitor probably thought this was the funniest thing. He always did have a weird fascination with Adrien dating his best friend. Adrien chalked it up to better access to cheese bread. 

Wrapped in his own thoughts, Adrien almost ran into Marinette as she stood still in his room, next to his desk. Eyes not moving from the small alcove that housed Plaggs little bed. 

“Ah, a friend made that for my Kw-watch. For my watch.” Adrien started.

“Chat?” Marinette whispered, slowly turning to look at Adrien.

“What?” Adrien asked, quickly shutting his door behind him. “Mari, I must have misheard you, what did you say?”

“Chat, that isn’t for your watch, it is for your Kwami.”

Adrien stared at her dumbfounded, “And how would you know that?” he said, trying to brush off any fact with a joking tone.

Marinette swept the bits of hair that had fallen down back behind her ear, drawing Adrien’s eyes briefly to her earrings. She took a deep breath before she looked Adrien straight in the eye, and replied, “I know Adrien because I made that bed for Plagg,”

*****

Adrien smiled to himself as he lounged on his bed. He couldn’t help but replay that evening’s events with a smile. 

_“Welp, cats out of the bag on this one, Hi pigtails!” Plagg snickered as he flew into the air between them, only to be knocked back as a furious Tikki flew out and shoved him._

_“How could you do that? You scheming little stinky sock! We agreed we would let them figure it out on their own time.” she whisper yelled at him._

_The bickering kwamis blended into background noise as Adrien stepped closer to Marinette, enveloping her in a hug._

_“My lady,” he said nuzzling his face into her hair, “I am so glad it is you.”_

_Marinette pulled away and looked up at him. Adrien could see panic start to set in her eyes. Unsure of how to help her, Adrien grabbed her hands and led her to his desk chair. He helped her sit, then crouched down in front of her._

_“Speak to me Buginete. What’s going on?”_ _  
__“I, I can’t believe that… it's you...and this stupid bed. We would have never known if it weren’t for Plagg asking for-” Marinette stopped mid-sentence and whipped her head around at Plagg. The panic in her eyes replaced with fury. “You! You knew. Plagg, you knew who I was, and knew that I knew Adrien, and yet you asked for the bed anyway.”_

_Plagg went silent. He looked back and forth between the two holders, threw his hands in the air and sighed. “Yeah, so what I knew. You two have been dancing around each other for years! And I know Tikki would never admit it but this was a pretty clever plan. After all, there was no guarantee that you would say yes, or that Adrien would invite you back here. Especially since the space is so much smaller than he is used to. But you all did it anyway. And plus we don’t have to worry about Fu and his stupid fake rules.”_

_Adrien held up his hand, “Wait, what do you mean Fu’s fake rules?”_

_“The whole losing your miraculous thing. That was something Fu came up with. It isn’t a real rule that we Kwami enforce. And obviously, since it has been this long and the order of the guardians hasn’t come looking for our miracle box, they aren’t that worried. Honestly, since you both share guardianship of the box I am surprised you didn’t just tell each other earlier.”_

_Adrien and Marinette stared at the little black kwami, silence thick in the room as each one thought of what to say, how to react._

_“Hold on,” Marinette said, “Tikki, did you know this?”_

_“Ah, y-yes,” Tikki confessed. She floated over to Plagg’s alcove and sat down. “I didn’t want to overwhelm you with stuff when you first became the guardian and it hasn’t come up since.”_

_“Tikki, I’ve been guardian for basically 2 years now. This would have been good information to know. Is there anything else we should know now that we are talking about it?”_

_Plagg flew over and sat in front of Tikki, and puffed his chest before replying. “Look pigtails, we just did what we thought would be best. If you have more questions we can go over them later. You should know by now we are bound by certain rules.”_

_Adrien sat in shock. He had never seen Plagg so protective of anything other than cheese. He supposed it made sense. They were each other’s other half._

_“Plagg is right, we can talk more about this later after we have had time to think about it.” Adrien said, reaching over to turn his computer on, “Let's go over that class rep stuff you brought.”_

Adrien traced his palm with his fingers, remembering what Marinette’s hand felt like in his. She was Ladybug. His best friend was also the woman he loved. The transition from two people to one was easy for him to think of. He remembered all the times he was so close to figuring it out and had been stopped by either by Plagg or his wish to not get his hopes up too high. 

A lovesick grin stuck on his face as he closed his eyes. No wonder they always made a good team. Adrien’s brain started to wander off into thought as sleep swept over him. He let out a relaxed sigh. He had his new home with his brother and newfound freedom with that. He had the start of his last year in lychee. He knew who his lady was, and could more easily help her with sharing their guardianship duties. He had the grimoire. Heck, he even had a bike to help him get around the city better. While life was good, he was ready for all the excitement to die down a little. 

With a loud bang, the bedroom door flew open. Adrien sat up instinctually and hit his head on the ceiling.  
“Okay, now that she is gone, we really need to talk,” Felix said looking up at his brother.

Adrien rubbed his head where it had hit. “About what Fe?”

“About… um… walls are thin in apartments Adrien.”

“Yes, you mentioned that earlier.”

“And when you have someone in your room that you...talk...to-”

“Fe, if you are going to give me the talk cause I had my friend in my room, it's fine. Nathalie gave me the talk when I was like 12, and then Nino’s parents filled in any gaps a while ago.”

“What? No, that isn’t…” Felix’s face was dusted with a slight blush. “I mean it is good you know but not what I meant.”

Silence settled on the brothers as they stared at each other.

“Then what did you mean?”

“Um, can we talk in the living room?”

“Uh, sure.”

Adrien climbed down from his bed and followed Felix into the living area. Felix pulled a chair from the table in the corner and sat across from the couch, and waited for Adrien to sit down.

“So, what’s up Fe? Is everything okay?”

“Um, yes. No, I think so.”

“Did I do something wrong?” Adrien asked, as his eyes betrayed his attempt to stay calm.

“No, no. You didn’t do anything wrong. No, I just want to talk to you about something I think I can help you with.”

Adrien looked up at his brother confused. Felix then stood up and went back to the table. He grabbed a small book and then returned. He opened the book as he started to talk.

“So, first things first. I know that we know dad is Hawkmoth, and Mayura is Nathalie, but Mom used to wield the peacock miraculous. The kwami’s name is Dusuu, right?” Felix looked up at Adrien.

Adrien’s jaw went slack. He tried to compose himself before he replied.  
“Uh, I… um… I don’t know. How would I know?" he licked his lips, voice steadily rising in pitch with each word, "I didn't read that part of mom’s journals but I don’t know anything uh, kwamis did you say?”

“Yes, you do Adrien. If you aren’t sure about Dusuu, just ask Plagg. I know he is here somewhere.”

Adrien’s face froze for a split second before it turned defensive, “How do you know about Plagg?”

“Because Adrien, as I said earlier, apartment walls are thin. I could hear you talking to him over the past few days. Not on purpose mind you, I don’t like eavesdropping. But I did learn about your responsibilities. And I want to help.”

Plagg flew out from Adrien’s shirt pocket and started Felix in the face. Felix stared back, then turned to Adrien.

“He likes cheese, right? I think I heard him complain to you about wanting cheese.”

“Yeah, he does, he prefers camembert.”

“Ah, he has fine taste then. I usually keep some camembert in the house.”

“I knew it!” Plagg shouted triumphantly. “I knew you must like it too cause you have the good stuff!” Plagg flew around Felix’s head happily before stopping in front of him to shake his hand, “Hi, I’m Plagg, Kwami of destruction and bad luck. I am bound to the black cat miraculous. Happy to live with you, can I get the cheese now?”

“Ah, help yourself,” Felix replied.

“Don’t tell him that, he will eat it all,” Adrien warned.

“So, question, if Kwami are similar to gods, according to what mom wrote, then why the cheese?”

“I neemph tu eapt tu wechag” Plagg replied, mouth full. 

When he saw Felix’s confused face, Adrien translated, “He needs to eat to recharge. See, transforming and using special abilities takes energy. And Plagg will only eat camembert to recharge his energy. Every kwami has a favorite food apparently. But Plagg is the only one picky enough to refuse other foods for cheese.”  
“Hey! Not true, I ate a cookie once!”  
“That was in an emergency and therefore doesn’t count. But Felix, I need to make sure you know, you can’t tell anyone about this. No one can know who I am for your safety and mine. Who knows what lengths Father would go to reach his goal. And I don’t want to see you hurt for it.”

Felix sighed, silent for a moment. He had so many more questions he wanted to ask but knew that they would have to wait. Right now he needed to reassure his brother then get to his main objective. 

“I won’t tell anyone, Adrien. I don’t want you to not do what you are doing. It is obviously doing good given the progress you guys have made. And I don’t want to take that from you, I want to help you. So I have an idea.”

“Okay, what is it?” Adrien asked, suspiciously

“So I think I can help in two ways. The first is by reading through mom’s journals, it sounds like that book you wanted is in code. It would appear mom broke the code and could read them. It sounds like she never told Father though, so I don’t know if he knows. But if you want, since I will only have two classes this semester, I can help you translate the book.”  
“Okay, that would be super helpful actually. What is the other thing?”

“Second, I want to share your responsibility with you when you need a night off.”

“No.”

“Listen, let me lay it out, Adrien. Let’s say you are sick and an Akuma attacks. I can go for you, assuming Plagg is willing. I could do patrols for you on nights where you have a big project due or something. Most of my school work left is just research-based, and I have finished the majority of it over this summer. You have been going through a lot more, and could benefit from some downtime.”

Adrien frowned at his brother. On the one hand, this could be really helpful for him. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was his responsibility and his only. He had been chosen to be Chat Noir, not Felix.

“Look Fe, I think if you help with the book that should be enough for now. While I appreciate the offer to help share the responsibility, that is something I would have to talk to both Ladybug and Plagg about. Plagg would need to be fine with it first and foremost-”

“Yeah, I’m fine with it.” Plagg interrupted.

“You are?” the brothers said in unison.

“Yeah, I’ve been watching you, and you’re cool. You definitely care about Adrien, and I can sense you aren’t like evil or something. Plus if you try to do anything to Adrien, I can always tell you the story of how the dinosaurs went extinct.”

“The dinosaurs?” Felix asked

“Yeah, he is real proud of that one,” Adrien replied. “Well, if Plagg is fine with it, then I will need to talk to Ladybug to make sure she is okay with it too. After all, I am her partner, she would need to feel comfortable working with someone else if you were to help out with this.” 

Felix nodded his head. The two brothers sat in comfortable silence for some time. Only the sounds of Plagg eating cheese broke through occasionally. 

“So...:” Adrien started, “how do you know Bridgette, was it?”

Felix blushed slightly, “Ah, yeah. From classes at the university.”

“She wouldn’t happen to be the owner of the pink B mug nobody touches, would she?”

“Ah, actually, no she isn’t. I got that for her, but never gave it to her. Same with the orchid.”

“What is the story there?”

“There isn’t much to tell." Felix shrugged, "I thought we were together, she didn’t. She felt that we should only be friends, and then went to study in China.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Well, it is starting to get late.” Felix stood up and stretched, “I think I will shower and turn in for the night. Remind me tomorrow, and I will go get more cheese from the store.” 

“Oh, okay,” Adrien replied.  
“I won’t forget.” Plagg chimed in.

Adrien watched his brother walk back toward the bathroom. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He walked out to the patio to stand in the setting sun. 

**to: Buginette**

**Eiffel Tower, Just after sunset?**

*****

Marinette ran her hands down her face. She let out a sigh as she sat on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate and a warm croissant. She leaned her head back and thought about the events of the day. So what that Adrien was Chat Noir. That was something she could cope with, right? It isn’t like the guy she ended her last relationship was the guy she had started the relationship to get over in the first place. It wasn’t like she couldn’t handle working next to him knowing that she was attracted to both sides of him. They could just be friends, right? Cause that is what he wants isn’t it? He had stopped pushing with the flirts with Ladybug and had been there as an amazing friend for her as Adrien, even helping her put a stop to Lila’s antics several times. Which was no easy feat for him, she knew. 

But now, knowing who he was, it made more sense as to how he got the grimoire back. And they could better communicate any big stuff that came up. They should probably still use their proxy chats for any big secret identity stuff, or come up with a code or something. That reminded her, she needed to get Adrien’s new number. And she should probably get together with him and compile a list of all the heroes they would need and who would be best for each miraculous in the event they needed them. 

They had heard nothing from Hawkmoth since the battle a few weeks ago, and it was getting worrisome. The last time something like this happened, there was a large scale battle where they ended up needing a lot of back-ups. While she sat and contemplated the possible battle scenarios, the door opened behind her.

“Hello Mari,” Bridgette said cheerfully.

“Hey Bri, what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much. I just finished up downstairs and brought up a few treats. Some croissants for you and I, and some macaroons for Tikki.”

“Oh thanks, that is-” Marinette sat up fast, a panic set in her eyes, “what did you just say?”

“I brought up croissants?”

“No the thing after that.”

“The macaroons for Tikki?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you are Ladybug, and, I did a little research, and found some stuff out, and Auntie and Uncle said you call her Tikki and that she likes macaroons.”

“Wait! Mom and Dad KNOW!?!”

“Oh, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that part.”

Marinette shot up and paced the room mumbling to herself, “Great, first chat noir and now this.” 

“Um, since I know now, can I meet Tikki? I’ve heard you talking to her for a few days now, and would like to meet her.”

Marinette stopped pacing. “Wait, is that how you know? You heard me talking to her?”

“Yeah, same with Aunt Sabine and Uncle Tom. You know that feels weird, do you think they would care if after all this time I just started calling them mom and dad too?”

“I doubt they would care, back to the problem at hand, you know. You can’t tell anyone.”

“Yeah, I know. Can I meet Tikki now? You can also stop freaking out and trying to pull your hair out.”

Marinette let go of the parts of her hair she had intertwined her fingers into and took several deep breaths. 

“Um, sure, yeah. I mean that is up to her really.”

“Oh, okay.”

Tikki poked her head out of Marinette’s messy bun.

“Hi!” she chirped at Bridgette. She then flew down to the plate of macaroons and surveyed the offering. “Oh, strawberry! These are some of my favorites! But my absolute favorite is chocolate chip cookies. Thank you, Bridgette, this is very kind of you.”

“Ah, well, I know I am not graceful at confrontations, so I figured if I brought in food it might help smooth things over,” Bridgette explained.

“That is usually a good strategy,” Tikki agreed. 

“Do you think she will stop pacing soon?” Bridgette asked.

“Give it a few more minutes.”

“So, you are a… spirit thing?”

“A kwami. I am the kwami of creation and good luck. I am what gives ladybug her powers.”

“Ah, cool! It makes sense then why you are partnered with Mari. She is always creating something.”

“That is very true,” Tikki giggled, “but she also had a good heart and knows what is important when it comes to helping others and attempting to judge what is right and wrong. She is the best Ladybug I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with.”

“Ah, that is so sweet Tikki. Thank you for looking out for my cousin.”

Tikki and Bridgette continued to exchange pleasantries as Marinette paced back and forth, diving deeper and deeper into her own spiraling thoughts. All the things that could go wrong, how people could get hurt. What if this all got back to Hawkmoth? How would she protect Bridgette?

“Easy, teach me to fight,” Bridgette replied.

Marinette stopped, pulled out of her thoughts, and looked at her cousin. 

“Wait, did I say that out loud?”

“Yes. You did.”

“Oh.”

“Just teach me to fight. I can take care of myself pretty well. I mean, my original plan was to come up here and see if you needed a backup ladybug or something, or more help with patrols and stuff, but I saw Rena Rouge and Carapace out on patrol tonight so you seem to be sharing that duty well. Which is good. You need to lean on others more.”

“A backup Ladybug?”

“Yeah, you could teach me a bit about what it means to be Ladybug, and I could help you with patrols or something on nights where you are busy and I am not. Like on Mondays. I don’t work at the bakery Mondays, so I could be Ladybug while you’re at school so it doesn’t interfere with your grades. This is your last year, it is important you get your classes done if you want to get into a university. Or if you have some commissions you need to finish and need someone for patrol, I got you covered.”

“What about your schooling?”

“Beauty of my schooling is that it is set mostly on my own time since it is online. So I can finish it as I please.”

“Oh. okay.” 

Marinette sat down to join Tikki and Bridgette. She grabbed a croissant and took a bite. She contemplated as she chewed. This could work out well for her. She has been needing a break with everything that has been happening in her life. Maybe if she ran it by Adrien and he was okay with it. Yeah, she would have to talk to him first. She reached for her phone and stopped when she pulled it out. Ah, but she didn’t have his number. 

“Talk to me M. What is going through your mind.” Bridgette asked, pulling Marinette out of her head again.

“Ah, well, if Tikki is fine with it, I could use the break. But I would need to talk to Chat Noir first. While I am Ladybug, I am also his partner. And partners talk to each other about this kind of stuff.”

“Understandable and respectable. Tikki, you’re thoughts?” 

Tikki looked between the two young ladies sitting on each side of her. She could tell just from the short time she had been around her that Bridgette was a commendable person and would make a good ladybug too. But she also knew that Marinette would and should be the one to make the final decision. She looked back and forth between them once more, before she took another bite of cookie. 

“I think that if the guardian is fine with it, I am too.”

Bridgette’s brow furrowed, “Who is the guardian?”

“Me,” Mari replied. 

“Then it is settled, I can fill in as your back up.”

“No, not quite.”

Marinette’s phone buzzed.

**From: Unknown Number**

**Eiffel Tower, Just after sunset?**

**To: Unknown Number**

**Who is this?**

**From: Unknown Number**

**Only the coolest cat you’ve ever known.** **  
****Did I not give you my new number Mari?**

**To: Adrien**

**Oh, Adrien, hi.**

**From Adrien**

**Yes, this is Adrien. So, Eiffel Tower?**

**To: Adrien**

**See you in 15.**

First, she needed to talk to Chat Noir.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't have an update schedule. I am just trying to update as I go. And since I had most of these first three chapters all done when I posted the first one, this was a little faster to update. It may take a week or more between updates now. As much as I want to just write to my heart's content, I do have to work. Happy Thursday!  
> If you're in the US, don't forget to vote soon!


	4. Curiosity and the Cat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And Another!
> 
> This one is a bit shorter, more about it at the end.

Marinette swung above the rooftops, the Parisian sunset her backdrop. The wind rushed past her face, making her almost forget about her worries. She landed on the top of the Eiffel Tower in no time. She knew she was a little early, but she also knew she needed to take a break from her house and just let herself be. It was always easier to stave off the panic and just breathe when looking out at the Parisian skyline from so high up. 

Gazing out at something so big reminded her how small she was. How small her problems were if she only took the time to breathe and think. So that is what she would do. Breathe and think. As a slight breeze ruffled her hair, she heard a faint thud behind her that could only be her partner. 

“Hello, Chaton.”

“Hello, My Lady. I’m glad you wanted to meet up. I have some...news I need to discuss with you.”

“Oh, must be serious if you didn’t use a pun. Though, as it happens, so do I.”

“Do you want to go first then?”

Ladybug shook her head back and forth.

“Okay, then me first. Right. So… My brother figured it out,” Chat closed his eyes, afraid to see what her reaction would be. “Well, figured me out. He doesn’t know about you,” Chat’s nervousness seeped though as he sped up his talking with each word, “but now he wants to help and be a part-time Chat Noir so I can focus more on being a teenager and Plagg is fine with it, but I don’t know that I’m fine with it and just—”

Chat Noir was cut off by a flurry of loud laughs. His eyes shot open to see Ladybug doubled over in laughter, Chat continued, confused.

“My Lady, this is no laughing matter. I think this is rather serious.”

“No Chaton, I’m not— I, hahaha, ah, hold on,” Ladybug straightened up and attempted to stop her giggles. She inhaled deeply one last time before continuing.

“Chat, I’m laughing ‘cause the same thing happened to me,” Ladybug wiped a tear from her eye, a sympathetic smile replacing the laughter. “My cousin said the same thing. Tikki said it was up to me, and I kind of  _ want  _ to take her up on the offer.” Ladybug looked down as she started to scuff her shoe along the ground. “I could use a break with school starting soon. I’m sure you could too.” 

“Yeah, I mean, that is a good point. I could use the break,” Chat gave a small worried smile before flopping on the ground. “My brother was asking about my mental health. And while I understand why I need a break from that point, I don’t know that I want to share Plagg, you know?”

Ladybug looked down at her partner. “Yeah, I get it.” She sat down next to him wrapping her arms around her legs, pulling them closer to her body.

“So Bugaboo, how did you get found out?” Chat asked, staring straight ahead.

“Uh, I, uh, am not 100% sure.” Ladybug replied, face scrunching up. “But my cousin said something about how my parents have known for a while I guess and so if I had to guess they probably talked to her since she is taking care of me while they are gone, you?”

“Uh, apparently the walls are pretty thin and my brother heard me talking to my kwami,” Chat mumbled. He looked down at his feet and started fidgeting. “Oh! My brother also found some stuff in one of my mom’s journals and might be able to translate the grimoire.”

“Oh really?” Ladybug perked up.

“Yeah! Which could be super helpful.”

A small silence falls between them. Chat moved on to playing with his tail. 

“Hey Chat,” Ladybug said.

“Yes Bug?”

“I have a question real quick.”

“Mmhmm?”

“Do you know how your brother knows my cousin?”

Chat perked up and looked over at her.

“Oh, yeah,” he replied. “Sounds like they used to date.”

“She’s never had a boyfriend. I mean, there was a guy she really liked, but he stopped talking to her once she went to China. That was the last I heard of it, at least.”

“I bet that’s him. He said she told him they were just friends. He thinks she broke up with him.”

“Oh geez,” Ladybug scoffed. “Should we tell them to not let anyone know who they are?”

“You mean, let them dance around each other annoying Plagg and Tikki like we have these last 3 years?”

“We haven’t been dancing.”

“Uh-huh, sure. But yeah, let’s do that. I think that could be fun.” Chat Noir snickered. “Maybe Plagg  _ is  _ starting to be a bit of a bad influence on me.”

“ _ Starting _ , huh?”

“What?”

“Anyway! Let’s tell them that we don’t know who the other is either. That’ll help keep the secrets manageable, I think.”

“You’re probably right as always, Bugaboo.” 

The two superheroes looked out over the skyline together. The dark hues of the sky slowly enveloped the skyline, calling out to the lights that started to pop up everywhere.

“What do you think Hawkmoth is up to right now, Chaton?”

“Who knows, My Lady. Purr-haps something big. We should get the whole team together soon and run over some drills.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“You know what they say about great minds,” Chat Noir smirked down at her.

“Well, I’ll send out my new backup next Tuesday with the book so you can have your translator work on it. Or maybe they could work on it together?”

“Hmm, I like how you think, Bugaboo. You never cease to amaze me.”

“Oh, stop your flattery, Alley Cat.”

“True flattery comes from a place of truth.”

“Okay fine,” Ladybug rolled her eyes. She twirled her yo-yo a few times then looked back over her shoulder at her partner. “See you soon, mon chaton.”

Chat watched as she swung out of sight, enamored by her just as much then as he had been the first day he saw her. 

***** 

Adrien carefully carried his bike down the stairs. Last night was a whirlwind of events, for sure, but today was a new day. He had a class rep meeting to get to, then he was gonna stop by the Dupain-Cheng bakery with Mari afterward and go over class notes and plan the day. He was finally going to spend time with her alone and he couldn’t wait. 

By the time he got to the bottom of the stairs, he was starting to really be thankful for the water bottle Felix had told him to pack. Felix had his own bike and had headed out to his University, so he knew a thing or two about hauling bikes up and down the stairs. 

Once outside, Adrien hopped on and started off in the direction of the school. He only saw a few paparazzi out, but that was to be expected. He knew that for the most part, the tabloids were more focused on Hawkmoth and Ladybug and Chat Noir’s theories than on him. Plus the police cleared him of all suspicion, so he wasn’t as interesting anymore. 

The warm late August air rushed past his face as he pedaled his way forward. He let his mind wander to thoughts of Marinette and how to ask her in a polite way if she was seeing anyone. He didn’t think she was. God, he hoped she wasn’t. He knew she had dated before but was pretty sure Nino said that she had broken up with Luka for some reason. But Mari was an attractive girl, so there was no shortage of people out there that she could date if she wanted to. 

So how could he make himself special? He was Chat Noir, so that was one thing. But he didn’t know if it was a good thing, a bad thing, or a neutral thing. Sure he had his model good looks, but that was never something to rely on. People were attracted to different things. But if she only saw him as a friend, he would just have to respect that. Maybe if he started with flowers or some sort of treat, he could show her how much she meant to him.

And then Adrien remembered the big thing. The one thing that had always come between them before. The guy she was in love with. How did he not think of this earlier? As Ladybug, she had told Chat Noir that he was someone she was close to, someone who was kind and she could rely on. Someone who would never think of themselves as special and she wanted him to know how important he was to her.  _ Dang it _ , he thought.  _ Back to square one _ . 

He slowed down as he got to school. There she was, waiting on the school steps. Adrien’s heart skipped a beat as his face flushed. He quickly parked his bike, suddenly very aware that Marinette was headed his direction.

“Not used to riding a bike, huh?” she teased.

“What?”

“Your face is all red. You must not be used to riding in this heat. Do you have water?”

“Oh, yeah, the heat. Um, yeah. I do. Felix told me it was crucial to bike riding. He even found a black and green one at the store.” Adrien lifted the bottle up to show her. “He went to the store to get it last night. Which is cool I guess. At least he cares, you know?”

“I think it’s cute that he cares for you in his own way,” Mari replied with a smile. 

Adrien blushed one more time as he drank his water, then gestured for them to go inside.

“I’m glad you’re finally able to join these meetings. They’ve been really dull. No one can agree on if we should have a dance or a charity banquet and when I suggested both, they all looked like their brains couldn’t fathom the idea of planning more than one event for the whole school year,” Marinette said smiling.

“Oh geez. Well, you know I’m here to back you up no matter what, Mari. There’s a reason our class gets the most stuff done, and it’s ‘cause you are the brains of this operation.”

“Oh,” Marinette smirked, “and what does that make you?”

“The beauty of course,” Adrien replied with a wink and a signature model smile.

Marinette giggled for a moment, “And here I thought I was the beauty.” 

“You’re always the beauty to me, Buginette.”

“Keep flirting, and I might think you’re serious,” Marinette teased as she reached out to fix his windblown hair. “Now let's go in there and get this meeting done. Then we can go to my place for lunch. Sound good?”

“Sounds perfect.” 

Adrien smiled as he walked in behind Marinette. He may not know how he wanted to go about telling her his feelings, but he knew he wouldn’t trade the opportunity to stand by her side for the world. 

*****

Marinette stretched and Adrien yawned as the meeting came to a close. The two teens quickly learned that neither of them knew quite how to deal with the disorganized chaos of their fellow class reps as well as they thought. While they did eventually get everyone to agree on doing the two events, everyone then argued on which idea and theme were best for the two. They really had ended up spending most of the meeting passing secret looks to each other, and smiling at the chaos around them. Given that school was slated to start in two weeks, they weren’t really sweating the small stuff, instead enjoying each other’s company through the mutually miserable meeting. 

The teacher in charge of it all had insisted on a continued meeting after the lunch break, which no one had been really looking forward to, so everyone walked out of the classroom with more enthusiasm than normal to reach the August sunshine. Marinette and Adrien were the last to leave. Seeing as they had planned lunch at Marinette’s house, which was relatively close by, neither saw hurrying through their 2-hour break as necessary.

As they walked down the street in comfortable silence, Marinette attempted to stay calm. The closeness of their walk had caused Adrien’s hand to brush against hers several times now. She was certain it hadn’t happened enough times to be on purpose and she wasn’t going to hold her breath either. She looked down to sneak a peek at his hand and noticed he wasn’t wearing his ring.

“Adrien!” She exclaimed, stopping as she grabbed his hand, “Did you drop your ring?”

Adrien’s face blossomed a bright red that spread from his cheeks up to his ears. 

“Ah, no. Um, I left it with Felix.”

“Oh, of course,” Marinette said, “I suppose that makes more sense.”

She lowered their two hands, his still clasped in hers, and started to walk forward, Adrien quickly stepped alongside her.

“Yeah, he only had some voluntary research to do today, plus he was going to go to the store and wanted to make sure he was on the same page about what cheese to get. So he wore it today. Felix thinks it might do me some good to just feel like a teenager with minimal pressure sometimes.”

“Well, that’s good, I suppose.”

Marinette felt Adrien’s fingers extend a little bit, reaching out to cover her own. She knew she should make sure he was okay with this first, that there were no lingering feelings for Kagami, but his hand in hers felt so right. The warmth didn’t even feel awkward to her in the summer heat. She didn’t want to let go. 

The ding of a bike bell rang out from behind them. As Marinette went to let go of his hand, Adrien pulled her toward him, and the bike went past. 

“I hope you don’t mind, I wasn’t ready to let go yet,” Adrien said to her.

“N-not at all,” she replied. 

“Good,” he replied, a smile breaking out across his face. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Adrien lowered their hands again. He repositioned his hand to have a firmer grasp on hers, then continued walking to the bakery.

Just before the bakery, they let go. They both agreed it was better to just not have to explain to Bridgette why two friends could just hold hands, ‘cause friends were allowed to hold hands. It was a totally normal friend thing, but she would never get it. With that, they strolled around the corner and went inside. The cool air conditioning hit their faces and helped the blush they both wore recede slightly. The two teens said hello to Bridgette at the counter then went upstairs to the apartment. 

As Marinette went about pulling out food for the two of them to eat, Tikki flew out and helped Adrien set the table. They talked about the meeting and how they expected things would really play out. The teacher had really wanted everyone to come up with an idea for a big back to school welcome thing, but no one could decide if it should be a dance, a party, or a bash. Adrien had personally questioned the difference between the three and was shut down by a quick glare from some girls in one of the other senior classes. 

Adrien and Marinette brainstormed possible ideas with Tikki until she asked where Plagg was. Adrien told her the same thing he had told Marinette before reaching over to scratch Tikki’s head.

“So, Buginette, since I am just so swamped with these class rep ideas, I’m afraid I will have to send my backup tonight to retrieve the book from you.” Adrien said, each word laced with sarcasm, “Do you think you can manage?”

“Oh, but alas, mon Chaton,” Marinette replied with just as much sarcasm, “I too am swamped and will have to send my backup as well. I do hope they will get along.” 

Both teens burst out laughing. They knew that they were playing with a fire, but it was also so much fun. After comparing notes about how the older pair had split ways, the teens decided there was something left unsaid. Bridgette said Felix iced her out, Felix said Bridgette turned him down. Maybe they just needed a chance to get to know each other again. 

Adrien and Marinette finished up their lunch. Mari took off her earrings and handed them to Tikki, so she could take them down to Bridgette. Bridgette could keep watch and get to know Tikki better, but for now, they had a meeting to finish. 

*****

Felix sat at a corner table outside of a local cafe, holding a book up as he read it. He had ordered a cheese platter and carefully split the cheese into half portions. Plagg snuck out, grabbing a piece before he flew back behind the book and nibbled away. Felix had made sure to put in a pair of Bluetooth headphones, so that it would look like he was on a call when he spoke to Plagg.

“So, how has Adrien been with everything? Is he really doing as well as he seems to be?”

Plagg picked up a small stub of a well-used pencil and scribbled out,  _ He’s doing well enough. He seems more excited to be living with more freedom than sad about his dad. _

“I see. That is good, I suppose. Things were never the best when it came to him anyway. So what do we do if something happens today?”

_ What do you mean? _

“Like if we have to go to an….emergency meeting before Adrien gets home.”

_ Well, you would just have to be Chat Noir. Adrien said you took judo. More cheese? _

“Ah, yes my food is almost here. I will have to call you later. Bye.”

Felix went through the motions of hanging up his pretend phone call and hid the paper under his book as a waiter came up to his table with his meal. 

“Thank you, sir,” Felix said.

The waiter nodded and left. Plagg popped out of the book and glared at the salad and sandwich that Felix had ordered. 

“Why couldn’t you just order more cheese?” he grumped.

Felix glanced around to ensure he didn’t see any lingering paparazzi before replying, “Because I didn’t want more cheese. The rest of the cheese board is yours, but I wanted this. Also, talking is how I found you out, so keep it down in public. Especially since there could be press trying to tail me thanks to my horrible excuse for a father.” 

Plagg glared at him, before zipping to grab some cheese. Hidden among the plates and cups on the table Plagg continued to grumpily scarf down the various remaining cheese. 

The rest of the lunch went relatively quiet, with a few passing comments between Felix and Plagg. Plagg would attempt to get Felix to open up more about jokes and cheese, Felix would ask about what being Chat Noir meant and how to go about it well. Plagg had to admit that this was a different world than when he first started with Adrien, but he did miss the kid’s more playful attitude. 

Just as Felix was getting up to pay, a loud boom was heard. Felix looked out behind him. He dropped enough money to more than cover his food cost, grabbed his book and ran towards the noise. A large cloud of smoke plumed up into the air from the direction of the Eiffel Tower.

“They never feel the need to destroy anything else do they?” Felix sighed, “Okay, so how do I do this?”

“Find an alleyway or something that’s deserted,” Plagg hissed. 

“Right,” Felix muttered, running for a nearby alleyway. 

With no one around, Plagg flew out of Felix’s vest and looked at him. 

“Okay, just say the words.”

Felix gave Plagg a determined look. Plagg could see the resemblance between the two brothers, as Felix shouted with more enthusiasm than Plagg thought him capable of, “Plagg, CLAWS OUT!”

Felix felt the transformation wash over his body. He started to move with the changes being made to his hair, his outfit, and his eyes. As he opened his newly transformed eyes, Felix could hear and smell things he couldn’t before. He reached for the staff strapped to his suit and vaulted himself to the roof. He found moving in the suit and using the staff to be almost like a memory of a long lost skill. He felt as if he had always known exactly what he needed to be Chat Noir. 

Once at the Eiffel Tower, Felix stopped to survey the scene. He looked over the Akuma; a man in a mismatch of various anime-style outfits with bright blue hair. A headband across one eye, a sailor-fuku collar, school uniform pants, and a kimono-like overcoat flew out behind him as he jumped from place to place, hitting civilians with a giant body pillow, yelling about the betrayal of his waifus, and how far anime had fallen in recent years. Felix rolled his eyes. He knew this type. This kind of guy was why he stopped watching anime years ago. 

A thump next to him caused Felix to turn. There stood Ladybug. But not the usual Ladybug. She was slightly different. But he wasn’t quite sure quite how. 

“Right, so what did I miss, Chat?” 

“Ah, not much, I just barely got here. I would guess the Akuma is in his headband. But he appears to be some sort of weeb upset about his waifus. Honestly, of all the things to be so upset to get akumatized over.”

“Waifus are serious business, Chat,” she replied, looking Felix straight in the eye. She looked him up and down once before continuing, “You aren’t the normal Chat, are you?”

“No, and you aren’t the normal Ladybug.”

“Nope. So two newbies on the job against a raging weeb. Great.”

“I think we can do this. Once you summon your charm I think we will have a clearer understanding of how to do this. For now, though, I think I can get in close to test that headband theory.”

The other Ladybug just stared at Felix, the awe forming on her face quickly replaced with a determined smirk. 

“Right, let’s get this bread,” she yelled, jumping down onto the scene.

“What does that even mean?” Felix asked himself as he followed.

The fight between the two heroes and the Akuma took a little longer than they had thought. At one point, Ladybug had caught the headband with her yo-yo, and Chat had destroyed it, but nothing happened. That was when the Akuma became really mad. He threw his body pillow in the air, calling on the power of Hatsune Miku, as a long mic stand fell out of the sky in its place. As this happened, an all-black necklace in the shape of a crown lit up. 

“I am the Ani-Keeper! I keep anime pure and the ships proper! I keep all as they should be according to the laws I set!

“Dude, that isn’t fair!” Ladybug yelled at him, snagging the mic stand from him and snapping it in half.

Ani-Keeper only got angrier at this. His blue hair turned pink as he raised both hands to the air and started screaming. Felix had a quick flashback to his childhood’s Saturday mornings, and quickly jumped to push Ladybug out of the way as Ani-Keeper released a ball of energy at her. 

Felix cradled her head as they crashed to the ground. 

“Are you alright?” he asked his partner.

“Ah, yes,” she replied, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

“Good. Now would be a great time for your lucky charm, Bug.”

“Right. On it.  _ Lucky charm! _ ” 

A red and black spotted plush of a cute generic anime girl fell into her hands. She looked at the plush then back up at Ani-Keeper. As he swung a scythe at Chat Noir, he continued yelling about justice for the unloved waifus.

“Are you serious?” Chat yelled back, “People like you are why no one takes fandom stuff seriously, you know that? People like you are who chase away newcomers and veterans to the fandoms alike! So just shut up and accept that people like different stuff!”

“Never! I will show the world the OP nature of the old ways! Just you watch!” Ani-Keeper dropped the Scythe and lowered his left hand, into his right. His left hand forming a half fist with his index and middle finger straight out and his thumb up in the air. A surge of power began to gather at his fingertips. Chat’s eyes went wide with recognition. 

Right as the beam fired, stuffing flew everywhere. Ani-Keeper stopped, horrified at the sight in front of him. Bits of the plush were falling all around the area, from fluff to fabric. Ani-Keeper dropped to his knees, stunned. Tears formed as he looked down.

“Now, Chat Noir!” Ladybug cried. 

Felix nodded and ran up to Ani-Keeper. Fast as his reflexes would allow, he grabbed the necklace and held it up in his hand.

“Cataclysm,” he called in an exasperated flat tone.

The necklace disappeared, and a butterfly formed in its place. 

Ladybug caught and purified the akuma. She then grabbed a piece of the plush on the ground and threw it up in the air; magical ladybugs flew everywhere and fixed the damage around them. She then looked over and smiled at Chat who nodded at her with a reaffirming smirk. The press made their way forward, and both heroes swung off. They met up on the roof they had started the battle on.

“Pound it?” Ladybug asked.

Chat smiled at her and lifted his own fist to meet hers.

“Pound it. Well, that was enough excitement for the time being. I assume that you are who I am meeting up with later at the assigned spot then?”

“Ah, yeah. That would be me.”

“Well, since your miraculous isn’t beeping, I assume that means you are also an adult. Which leads me to the next point of, if you have the book and time now, so do I.”

“Oh, yeah, I can do that. Hold on. Uh, actually, can you meet me at the other roof? I need to go grab the book. I’ll be right back.”

“Yeah sure, Bug, I can do that. See you soon.” Felix winked as he saluted with two fingers and ran off towards the roof they were to meet up at. 

*****

Bridgette watched as Chat ran off. A blush spread across her face. Oh heck, he was smooth. She reached up and slapped her cheeks quickly before she swung her yo-yo back out towards the bakery. She stopped a few rooftops away and transformed back on the street to help avoid suspicion. 

Once at the bakery, she went straight to the back and took the stairs to the apartment two at a time.

“Oh heck. Oh dang, Tikki, was he that smooth, or am I just smitten?” Bridgette mumbled.

“Oh, um, I think you’re smitten.”

“You don’t think he was smooth?”

“Ah, well, I am as old as the universe so I don’t exactly 100% understand everything that appeals to humans in terms of attraction. I’m a bit out of touch, you could say.”

“But he was handsome.”

“I suppose he was. Yes.”

“Oh gosh, I think I have a crush,” Bridgette stopped what she was doing and shook her head. “No, I don’t have a crush, it was just the adrenaline of the battle, that’s all.”

Tikki giggled as Bridgette shuffled through the room and put the grimoire in a generic-looking bag to help carry it and avoid suspicion.

“Okay, I gotta hurry back now,” Bridgette started to mumble to herself. “I’m fine, I don’t have a crush, I’m just excited. Yeah.”

Once far enough from the bakery, Bridgette transformed and swung back out toward the rooftops, heading to the meeting spot. As she drew closer, she could see Chat Noir as he sat on the roof, looking out at the skyline. 

“Hey Bug, that was quick.”

“Yeah, heh, thanks.”

“So, that’s the book?” He asked, pointing to the bag.

“Oh yeah! This is it. Mm-the other Ladybug said you had something to help translate it?”

“I have a journal that could possibly help. Chat and I were able to get this journal from the Agreste house when he got the grimoire.”

“I assume you mean the other one and not you in the third person?” Bridgette laughed.

“Ah, yes, I do. I suppose we should come up with names for ourselves, at least to differentiate who we are talking about.”

“That would probably be a good idea. But yeah, um, book.” Bridgette smiled as she held up the bag.

Chat chuckled as he unzipped a pocket on his suit. He pulled out a journal and pointed to it. 

“Book,” he replied as he patted the rooftop next to him. 

Bridgette felt her face heat up as she sat down next to him. They placed the books side-by-side and both began to read through the information in front of them. Before long, they were bouncing ideas off of one another, as if trying to put together a puzzle that neither of them really knew the extent of, just the general picture. 

Working on deciphering and translating the grimoire together felt like being in the company of an old friend for Bridgette. She found herself laughing and having a good time as they went through each page. 

The sun started to turn the sky hues of orange, pink, and purple by the time either of them had looked up past the other’s face or the book. 

“This should probably be our last page,” Chat sadly said.

“Ah, yeah, probably,” Bridgette admitted. 

She didn’t want to admit she was having too much fun, that she would like to continue by the light of the streets below if possible. Chat turned the page. There was only one small paragraph next to pictures of what looked like slightly different versions of the Ladybug and Black Cat miraculous. They set to work, reading silently. 

“Han-a-ko-re-my-to-ley-ran-ta?” Chat said out loud, confused. 

“Han-a-ko-re-my-to-ley-ran-ta?” Bridgette replied.

“That is what it says. I have no idea what it means, though. The rest of the paragraph seems to talk about the miraculous as they started, I think. But this is the only part that I couldn’t really translate. I mean, we are only a few pages in here, so it may all make sense soon.”

“Well, this paragraph says something about a double or a do-over? I’m not quite sure. I heard that we might be getting a group chat app that isn’t attached to an account so we could maybe talk this over more later, too.”

“Well, I am sure we will meet up again if we are the ones assigned to translate this.” Chat looked up and sighed, “I really should head out. I have some responsibilities at home. Thanks for helping with the book, and the weird akuma fight. What a stupid reason to be akumatized.”

“Right? Like, hop on Tumblr or something. Plus he kept talking about ‘old anime’ but he was totally repping Soul Eater which I don’t think really truly counts as old anime. I mean come on, it isn’t that old.”

“Really, some people,” Chat sighed as he shook his head, stopping to give her a quick smirk. “Sounds like you know your stuff, Bug.”

“I mean, I’ve dabbled in it. Who hasn’t at this point?”

“True enough. See you next time, then?”

“Yeah, next time.” 

Bridgette watched as Chat nodded at her, before turning around to run off. 

“Oh heck, I really do like him.”

*****

Felix touched down on his balcony and let his transformation drop. The lights around the apartment were out for maintenance so he wasn’t super worried about people figuring out who he was. As he walked into the apartment, Adrien turned on the light.

“So? How did it go!? I saw the Akuma fight!”

“Ah, it was fine. The fight wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. And, I didn’t even die. Unlike some people here.”

Adrien glared at his brother, then shifted his gaze over to his Kwami.

“How did he do Plagg?”

“He did well enough. He made no cheesy jokes though.”

“The jokes aren’t my thing, Plagg,” Felix replied. “Anyway, you should have this back, it is yours after all.” Felix started to remove the ring as he had finished talking.

“Oh! Wait!” Plagg started.

Felix touched the ring to Adrien’s hand. As the ring hit his palm, it evaporated into a black mist at the same time as Plagg got sucked back toward Felix’s hand. Both Plagg and the mist passed through his hand. A lingering black mist slowly absorbed onto Felix’s right ring finger. As it started to clear, Plagg reappeared in front of the two brothers; the black cat miraculous once again in Adrien’s palm. This was barely noticed, as all sets of eyes landed on Felix’s right hand, where a black ring sat. The mist slowly consolidated into the ring. Once solidified, the remaining mist reached up to Plagg.

“Oh craaaaapppp!'' He cried as he was pulled in two. 

There in front of the two brothers was something altogether new. Plagg, and a mini Plagg floating between them, and two rings, one on each brother’s hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I recently had a death in my family, so I will probably not be writing as much the next little while. I managed to finish this chapter cause I wanted to get something out for you guys who are reading. I also didn't really comb through and edit as well for this chapter as I normally would. I will go through and edit it as needed later. Thank you all for your patience and continued reading.  
> Also, everyone, be safe out there. Remember to wash your hands and all that jazz. 
> 
> I hope you all also liked my really sad attempt at a creative akuma. I found it to be a bit meta and funny but hey, that is me.


	5. Conversations and contemplations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is Chapter 5! Thank you to fandomchildd (https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomchildd) for agreeing to beta read this for me! 
> 
> Also happy birthday Hermionemonica! This one goes out to you!

“Oh heck,” Bridgette exclaimed, as earrings formed on her ears again. “Tikki, what happened?” 

“Ah, well… you see, um… you’re cursed.” Tikki replied.

“Fuck.”

As Bridgette continued to curse and vent to herself, Marinette just stared at her miraculous. The earrings that sat in her hand, then back at the earrings that looked similar but slightly off that had formed on her cousin’s ears. While Mari’s miraculous was a perfect circle, Bridgette’s earrings were slightly oval and had gold on the sides. They were jet black, just like her’s, and still studs. Mari reached out, lightly, as if the earrings would disappear if touched, and brushed a finger against them. Bridgette stopped talking and grabbed Mari’s hands.

“What are you doing, Mari?” Bridgette asked.

“They’re solid,” she answered. Mari took her eyes off the earrings for the first time since the pink mist had developed from her’s and looked at Tikki. Her eyes grew wide.

“AH! Tikki, there are two of you!” Mari yelled.

“Yes, that happens when someone is cursed.”

Tikki looked back at her miniature floating next to her. The second Tikki was slightly smaller, the same red color, but had one four-leaf clover-shaped dot on her forehead instead of the several dots that Tikki had all over her body. The second Tikki hid a bit behind the first one and poked her head around the bigger one’s body. She seemed startled by Marinette’s outburst and shook a little.

“Oh hey, it's okay little one,” Bridgette said calmly. She reached out to the little Tikki and cradled her in her hands. As the little kwami’s eyes looked up at Bridgette, a smile spread on her face. “Hey, that is better huh? What is your name little one?”

“Tikki!” the little kwami chirped back.

“You have the same name?” Mari asked.

“Well, yes, it is all kind of complicated.” The larger kwami said. “You see, Bridgette and her Chat Noir were reading the grimoire earlier to decode it, and there is one line that they both said out loud. What happened then was they cursed each other. When this happened, you basically cursed yourself to become a sort of miraculous. So then my powers became split between the two miraculous that I am bound to, both sets of earrings. But here is the thing. Bridgette, you specifically have only Luck. You don’t have creation like Marinette does. You can cast miraculous ladybug when you need to in battle and cleanse akuma, but you will be affected by luck outside of your transformation in a way that Marinette never has. This is likely the same thing that is happening to Plagg, which unfortunately means there will be two of him, and one will cause mass amounts of bad luck every day.”

“So I am cursed with… good luck?” Bridgette asked.

“Well, to put it frankly, yes.”

“Okay, how is this a bad thing?”

“Well, you will absorb other’s luck. So you will inadvertently cause a lot of people bad luck. Like let's say you just barely catch a train because luck was with you, someone else missed it. But usually people who have good luck curse tend to hate it after a while. You’ll be lucky in relationships too, which can cause you to wonder if the relationship was luck or genuine interest. Or perhaps you get too much business coming in at work and end up overworked because of all the customers.”

“So it’s like a monkey’s paw then,” Mari chimed in.

“Um, I don’t know what that is,” Tikki said.

“It’s a story,” Bridgette replied. “Okay, so one step at a time here, breathe Bri. So, what should we name little Tikki then?”

“Um, not sure,” Marinette responded. “Why don’t we ask her?”

“Tikki!” the little kwami chirped. 

“So, is she just gonna pokemon at us?” Bridgette asked.

“She’ll start talking in fuller sentences soon. She’s like a baby right now. Eventually, she will be about my size and talk fully and have all my memories. Give it a few hours to a few days. It depends on how she’s feeling.”

“Okay, so naming will wait.” Bri mumbled to herself, “Hold up, if I’m cursed, how do I break it?”

“Normally when the curse happens, only one miraculous is cursed at a time. When the black cat is cursed, they require a kiss from the ladybug to break it. If just the ladybug is cursed, she needs something destroyed by the black cat. Usually, this happens through heartbreak. But I don’t know how to break it exactly in this case.”

“We don’t know?”

“We don’t know.”

Bridgette dragged her hands down her face and took a deep breath. She started to pace the room. The anxiety began to build up inside her. Mind racing to every curse within a fairy tale she had ever read. Every mythology. Her mind came up blank over and over. She stopped pacing to take a deep breath. 

“So how do I transform?”

*****

“Well, you just ask mini-me here to transform you honestly. Just yell his name and say, Transform me,” Plagg yawned.

“You’re pretty calm, Plagg, considering you’ve been split in two and have a mini version of you trying to lick your face,” Adrien said.

“Yeah, well, this happens to me more than Sugarcube so it’s kind of whatever. He, however, is not calm,” Plagg nodded his head to the other side of the room.

Felix frantically flipped through book after book, the shiny black cat-shaped ring catching the light from the nearby lamp. 

“You know, at least it is stuck on your right hand Fe, now you don’t have to explain to people why you suddenly got married.” Adrien snickered.

“This isn’t funny Adrien! I am cursed with  _ bad luck _ . And cheese breath over there said that he doesn’t know how to break the damn thing. And now we have two Plaggs. How are we gonna afford that much cheese!?!”

“Wait, back up, of all the things, you are worried about the cheese budget?”

“Yes, Adrien! I am a university student in my last year! You are also a student. I’ve been fine without a job because I have been investing the money Mom gave me and living more or less frugally. But now I have to get a job! Who will hire me? I am cursed with bad luck!”

“Fe, I think you are thinking about this too hard. Plagg said that your books were a good start. So let’s start there. Plus, Marinette said the other day that the bakery was hiring, one of us could work there!”

“No offense Adrien, but you don’t know how to work a real job. Plus, it is my responsibility as your technical guardian.” 

“Hey, I had a job before Father disappeared.”

“Modeling isn’t a real job.”

Adrien crossed his arms and pouted. 

“Yes it is,” he mumbled to himself. 

Adrien looked over at the mini Plagg that was chasing after the larger one’s swishing tail. 

“Hey Fe, I think we should name him Jiji.”

Felix stopped what he was doing and turned towards Adrien. His face scrunched in confusion. Adrien could practically see the gears moving behind his still panicked eyes. 

“You know, Jiji, from Kiki’s Delivery Service. You have to remember that one, we used to watch it all the time.”

Felix burst out in laughter and waved his hand in front of his face as he doubled over.

“Adrien, I think you broke him,” Plagg said.

“Fe, are you okay?” Adrien asked.

Felix shook with laughter for a few minutes more, eventually, he sank down to sit on the floor. Tears streaked down his face as he started to finally calm.

“Yeah, I’m fine now. It’s just, this has been one hell of a day kid. It all starts with the weird anime waifu akuma, then this curse, then you bring it full circle back to anime. You know, the other Ladybug who fought with me today said that waifus were a serious business after I made light of the akuma’s rage.”

“Well she’s right. They  _ are _ serious business. I thought you knew better Fe,” Adrien replied, his face scrunched up, “But I can see how this can all be overwhelming. It was a lot for me when I first started too, and I wasn’t cursed. Unless you count Father, but that’s something different I suppose.”

“Yeah, the only good thing to really come from our family was us. I mean, Mom was awesome when we were little, but once we hit school age and she got the new job we never saw her. Then she just got sick and disappeared,” Felix said to his brother as Adrien sat down next to him. 

“And Father might as well have disappeared with her. You know, I tried to tell him once that he should move on and date Nathalie, and he yelled at me. Thought for sure he was gonna hit me. Now it all makes sense I guess,” Adrien lowered his face towards the floor.

Felix looked down towards the same spot on the floor. He nervously rubbed his thumb and index finger together and turned to look at his brother. 

“Hey Adrien, I just thought of something. So, Mom had the peacock miraculous before right?”

“Uh, that’s what it said in her journals right?”

“Yeah, it is. But she mentions that it’s broken in… hold on,” Felix got up and went over to rummage through the pile of journals sitting nearby, “Ah! Here it is. So she said it was broken, and then started traveling to find out how to fix it. She also talks about how a group told her about a greater purpose that she is called to complete with the miraculous. But with the rest of the stuff in this journal, it implies timeline-wise, that it was when she would have gotten that new job. She is really detailed in the specifics about it, but she rambles about the bigger picture so it is difficult to really understand what is going on.” He paused. “Her ramblings get worse though towards the end of the journals. She starts getting sick like we remember, but she also goes on about this greater purpose too in a fanatic way. The way she talks about it feels reminiscent of something that Philip K. Dick wrote. It’s all stuff about an organization and the need to balance the world again. And how she had to use a specific power source from something to fix the miraculous. Look, see, here she drew a diagram about it.”

Felix turned the page to show Adrien. There on the page in their mother’s delicate script was a sketched and labeled diagram of the peacock miraculous. The cracks in the miraculous were filled in with a delicate sparkling black substance of some kind labeled “power amplification” followed by unusual rune-like symbols. 

“I’ve never seen runes like these,” Felix continued as Adrien traced his fingers along the page. “I mean, I focus more on literature and philosophy, but I’ve never seen anything like this in all my avid reading.”

Adrien looked up at his brother. Silence stretched between them for a moment; broken by a long sigh from the younger brother.

“So basically, something made Mom go crazy?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that she kind of just left us… with Father.”

“No, it doesn’t. But it might be part of the reason.”

“Fe, why does our family suck?”

“You know, I have no idea.”

Tears began to build up behind Adrien’s eyes. He looked up in hopes of stopping them before they could fall. He closed them as the tears started to slowly fall. Before they could get far down his face though, he felt two arms wrap around him. Startled, Adrien opened his eyes to his brother’s arms wrapped around him in a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry I left you,” Felix mumbled into Adrien’s hair as he smoothed it down. 

“Fe, you had to do what you needed to do. I can’t fault you for that.”

“Still.”

They sat together in the almost silence that blanketed the room. The only noise was Adrien sniffling as he attempted to tame a leaky nose. The two kwamis eventually rested on top of each brother’s head, nestled into their hair. 

“Hey, Adrien, it has been a crazy day.”

“Yeah.”

“I have the purr-fect solution for you.”

“Did you just pun?”

“Yes, don’t ruin it. Why don’t you clear off the coffee table, and I will bring my monitor and laptop out here and we can watch Kiki’s Delivery Service like we used to.”

A smile broke across Adrien’s face as he wiped his eyes.

“Can we have a blanket fort to Fe?”

“Why not. We can make cocoa, eat snacks, hell, we can even break out the fancy camembert for Plagg and Jiji. We have a new kwami to celebrate and some time to catch up on.”

Once everything was set up, the two brothers settled down next to each other. A blanket wrapped around to create a nest. The two black cat kwamis sat on top of a pillow between the brothers, sharing a wheel of camembert. As the opening theme played from the tv, cups of cocoa were passed. 

Felix knew this wouldn’t fix the pain in his brother’s heart, nor in his, but this was a good place to start.

*****

Bridgette yawned as she leaned against the counter. She managed to somehow bake everything ahead of schedule, with nothing burned. She had everything set up before any other employees were scheduled to show up. 

“So, you seem a bit bigger than last night. Have you decided what your name should be?” Bridgette asked the little kwami.

“‘Ikki!” she replied.

“Hmm, what about Kiki? Is that close enough?” she asked.

The little kwami’s eyes went wide as a smile broke out along her face. She then flew around the room a few times before stopping in front of Bridgette’s face.

“Kiki!”

“Haha, I guess you like that then. Nice to meet you Kiki. Glad you have a name now. I suppose I should feed you something,” Bridgette walked over to the extra sweets she had baked for the two employees that were supposed to come in today. She picked up a cookie, and handed it over to the kwami who happily nibbled away. Bridgette couldn’t help but smile at the site of the little bug nibbling on a cookie about the same size as her. Reaching over, she scratched the kwami’s head. 

The alarm on Bridgette’s phone to remind her to open on time went off. She smiled one last time at her kwami before walking into the front room. She unlocked the door and cracked it open. The summer air smelled thick with the promise of rain to come. The fresh scent made it very tempting to leave the door open a crack.  _ What’s the worst that can happen? _ She thought to herself. With a shrug, she propped the door and walked back behind the counter, preparing to prime the espresso machine. 

As customers began filing in, the morning became plenty busy. If it weren’t for the fact that Marinette said something when she got downstairs, Bridgette would have never noticed that the other employees had never come in. Without saying a word, Marinette just walked over to the aprons, and put one on. 

The two cousins set to work getting each order filled and found an easy routine between them. Before they really knew it, the morning rush had subsided.

“Did you not call anyone else in?” Marinette asked.

“No, I didn’t even notice honestly. I just was working, and the smell of the rain was just keeping me calm I guess.”

“Bri, both employees called in sick today.”

“Oh. I guess that makes sense. But with the morning rush we should be fine now anyway.”

Bridgette turned from her cousin, and looked out the window. She saw the blonde boy she knew from tabloids and her cousin’s obvious crush riding up on his bike. She couldn’t help the mischievous smile that spread across her face.

“Don’t look now Mari, but I think your Prince Charming is here.”

Marinette blushed and looked out the window. Bridgette smirked at her cousin, expecting a deep blush. Instead she was greeted by a mirroring smirk on Marinette’s face.

“And it looks like he has his brother too.”

Bridgette’s eyes went wide and her smile dropped. She was supposed to be cursed with good luck. Why was he coming into the bakery? Seeing him the other day hadf dug up more feelings than she had wanted. Plus with her newfound attraction to her Chat Noir, she really didn’t feel like seeing Felix today. She walked calmly to the backroom, trying to push down any panic. Once out of sight, she reached up and started to check her hair. Flour was on her face, but that was expected. Why was he here? Yeah she had invited him, but to the grand opening of the new location. She didn’t expect him to just drop in. __

_ You know bri, just because we broke up, doesn’t mean we can’t still hang out like this. _

What did he mean, broke up? Were they together and she didn’t know it? She hadn’t really had time to think about what he had said with all this new stuff and being cursed and all that. Oh gosh what if he wanted to talk about that?

“BRI!” Mari’s voice rang out.

Bridgette looked toward the front room. Snapped out of the thoughts in her head, she grabbed a few chocolate almond croissants to bring up front. Taking one last deep breath, she yelled back, “Coming!”

Bridgette walked into the front room and was greeted by the scene of the two brother’s, standing at the counter. Adrien was talking and laughing with Marinette. He leaned into every word she said, so obvious in his feelings. Standing next to him was Felix. He stared off at the side of the shop. While browsing the pastry selection, he ran a hand through his hair, still damp from the morning’s rain. Bridgette’s heart skipped a beat just watching the simple movement. His words echoed through her head.

“Ah, sorry, I was grabbing more pastries from the back. What’s up Mari?” Bridgette asked.

“Ah, Felix here needs to talk to you. Felix, this is my cousin, Bridgette. I believe you had hinted that you two were acquainted when I saw you last.”

“Yes, something like that,” Felix answered. He turned to Bridgette, and nodded his head slightly, “Bridgette. How have you been?”

“I have been fine. How about you Fe?” 

“Ah, I have been fine as well.”

The two teens looked at each other. Sensing the tension in the room they grabbed pastries and their drinks and started to inch towards the door.

“Well, hate to leave Bri, but Adrien and I have to go to another one of those boring meetings.”

“Yep. Super boring. See you later Fe.”

With a final goodbye, both teens ran through the door and off to school. Bridgette and Felix stood looking through the windows at the two giggling teens walking next to each other. 

“I’m so glad he has people he can laugh with,” Felix said. 

“I imagine things have been rough.”

“Yes, well one doesn’t grow up as an Agreste without a few problems it seems. I am glad he is young enough that he can get help now and it will help him heal.”

Bridgette looked up at Felix, his face mostly stoic. To most it would be unreadable. But she could tell by the slight wrinkle on his brow and the way he bit his lower lip slightly that he was very worried for his brother. 

“I see your shoes match today,” Bridgette said, in hopes of lifting his spirit.

Felix chuckled slightly. “Yes, I do have matching shoes on today. I was told it is normal to wear matching shoes when one goes in to ask for a job.”

“Ask for a job?”

“Yes, well, Adrien wanted me to at least ask if you were hiring before I went out and looked in other places. I know he mostly wants me to ask so he can find out if he can work here, but still.”

“You’re looking for a job?”

“Yes. I have someone else to look after now, so the way I was living won’t cut it now. So I need a job.”

Bridgette stood stunned for a moment. She shook her head and smiled back at him, “Let’s sit here then,” she said pointing to a chair nearby. 

Bridgette smiled up at Felix. She may not know how she felt about him right that moment, but she knew she couldn’t let him leave without trying to help. And if that meant they did an impromptu interview, then that is what they would do.

“So Felix, tell me more about why you want to work here?”

*****

Felix walked out of the Dupan-Cheng bakery feeling more confused than when he got there. Bridgette had been gracious to even entertain an interview. But at the end of the day, he really would be better suited somewhere with less people and interaction. So starting tomorrow he was to be there at 5am to learn how to run the baking part of the bakery. He thought for sure when she started talking about how he was not good with people that would mean he didn’t get a job. 

Plus he had plenty of questions about how she was acting around him. She never blushed so much before when they would talk as friends. She was never one to be shy in her affections. When Bridgette felt something she would yell it loud for all to hear. When she loved you, you knew it. But this, this was new. She was shy, and quiet. Was she still hurt from their “not break-up?” She is the one who said they were only friends and would only ever be that. 

_ Felix knew he shouldn’t be hiding in the language lab, but he wanted to surprise her. He stood, back to the wall waiting for Bridgette to round the corner. He could hear voices gradually get louder as they walked down the hall.  _

_ “So what is the deal with you and Felix anyway?” a voice Felix recognized as their friend Claude asked. _

_ “We are friends, Claude. That is all we are, and all we will be.” Bridgette’s voice responded.  _

_ Felix looked down at the mug, flower, and letter he had for her. Closing his eyes, he could feel the sting of tears hit the back of his eyes. He could hear them still talking in the hallway, but mostly about classes now. Before they could enter the room, Felix grabbed the gifts, and snuck out the back door.  _

The memory still broke his heart a little when he thought about it for too long. If anything, it hurt even more now that he knew she never felt like they had been dating to begin with. He knew that he should be over her by now, but he couldn’t shake how he felt. And now he was gonna be working with her. How would he juggle this with his curse? And his newfound super hero duties? How did Adrien juggle all this stuff? 

God it was fitting that he was cursed with bad luck. He was going to be stuck loving a woman that had moved on. While he still held onto the mug, the post-it notes on how to do laundry, the pictures, the flower. Bridgette had left a gaping hole in his life that he had never noticed until he had to. And now he had to find a way to be there in the morning, long before he would normally wake, and be normal around her. 

As Felix walked into his apartment, when he looked down and realized he had forgotten his messenger bag. He sighed deeply, and Jiji flew out of his jacket pocket. He snickered as he flew around his head.

“You know, of all the people I’ve seen cursed, you are the first one I have seen that is so interesting. Why would you go ask to work at that bakery if it is gonna cause you so much hurt?”

“It isn’t that. I need a job, I had an in that made it slightly more likely that I would get it. We need more money if I have to support two cheese habits.”

Jiji flew over to Felix’s shoulder and sat down as Felix sat down on the couch and sighed. He knew the little kwami was right, but it didn’t make it sting any less. He reached up to scratch the little kwami’s head.

“You know Jiji, maybe this is for the best anyway. I mean, I want to be her friend again. I miss her. So this can help me get there, right?”

“I don’t know. I was just born yesterday.”

“But don’t you have all of Plagg’s memories?”

“Hmm, not yet.”

“Gotcha,” Felix sighed. “Well, guess in the meantime I should learn more about this curse. I suppose you don’t have a lot of info to give me do you?”

“Nope,” Jiji replied, curling up on Felix to take a nap.

Felix sighed again at the sight of his nonchalant kwami. Tilting his head back, he closed his eyes and began to think about his curse. In all the books he had ever read, most that dealt with curses were children’s books. Those usually all dealt with the same kinds of cures. To remove the curse an act of true love needed to be there. Or a true love's kiss. But anything that had to do with love wasn’t going to be much help for him now. He was hung up on a woman who had seemed to move on. 

The quiet snores and slow rhythm of Jiji’s breathing started to lull Felix. It had been a long day, and he was sure to have an even longer tomorrow. A quick nap before heading out to get his bag back sounded just like what he needed. 

*****

Marinette and Adrien packed up their notebooks and watched the rest of the class reps leave. They had finally all been able to agree on a back to school dance/picnic at a local park. Marinette and Adrien were in charge of finding out if there was any way the bakery could spare some small treats for snacks, and setting up decor the day of. Everything else seemed to be settled for now.

The two teens walked step for step through the school. They had been avoiding the topic of what they were to each other, and how being superheroes would change that for a while now. And while the lack of conversation did give Adrien a little bit of an ache in his chest, he was mostly hopeful that he could be something more than a friend and a partner to Marinette. He was just fixated on trying to find the perfect way to tell her.

Lost in thoughts of plans and grand gestures, Adrien didn’t notice at first when Marinette’s hand slipped into his. The warmth of her hand in his gave him a moment’s courage to say what was on his mind.

“Hey Mari, we should talk.”

Marinette looked up at him and nodded, “I was thinking the same thing.” She dropped his hand. “Let’s head back to my house since Bri will still be in the bakery, and we can talk there.”

Adrien nodded a quick confirmation. Marinette turned and began to lead the way back to the bakery. Already missing the comfort of her hand in his, Adrien hurried to catch up, anxious to see if he could capture her hand again. 

By the time the two teens had made it to the bakery, Adrien had no such luck. The streets became busy at one point, forcing them to walk one in front of the other, and then after that, he became so anxious his palm got sweaty, and no one would want to hold that. 

They walked through the bakery, said hello to Bridgette, and continued up into the apartment. As the door shut behind them, Plagg and Tikki flew out and began to fly around the room, helping Marinette and Adrien get down snacks for them to eat, and flying what they could up to Marinette’s room. The four worked in relative silence. Adrien’s anxiety was starting to get the better of him. Maybe he didn’t want to talk to Marinette about how he felt after all. Maybe it was all just going to be a mistake. She didn’t feel the same, and all the little hints he had been picking up on were wrong. Was he really ready to face the reality of a changed relationship after today, no matter what?

As he followed Marinette into her room, and watched her set the snacks on her desk, he realized he knew his answer. No, he wasn’t ready yet. 

“Okay, so I think we are on the same page here,” Marinette said, her back turned to Adrien. “We are kind of in uncharted territory here. So I think we should make sure we both agree here on what to do next.”

Adrien gelt his stomach sink with each word. Regret filled his mouth, but he couldn’t swallow with how dry it was. 

“Right,” was all he managed to get out.

“So, I think we should sit down and write this stuff out.”

Oh god why did he even say anything?

“After all, it has been a while since the last Akuma, so we should agree what to do with the team,” Marinette finished.

“The team?” Adrien asked.

“Yes, the team. Unless you think it would be better with just us two. But I think given how close it was last time more people on our side might be best.”

Adrien felt relief fill his gut. “No, the team would be good. I think it might even be helpful to find a place where we can all coordinate some things as a team and go over some strategies with them too. Who are you thinking for the team?”

“Well we already have Rena Rouge and Carapace helping out, so them obviously, Then I was thinking that Viperion, and Ryuuko would be good for their powers,” Marinette said

“Queen Bee would be good too, especially since Chloe improved her behavior and distanced herself from her family,” Adrien added. 

“Queen Bee’s power would be helpful. But do you really think we can trust her?”

“I mean, Kagami and Luka trust her right?”

“Yeah, but who you are in a relationship doesn’t always mean that you are a good fit for a superhero team.”

“That’s true, buginette, but I think she’s one of the more capable fighters. She almost took down Mayura on her own, you know.”

“Yeah, and so did you.”

“Exactly.” 

Marinette covered her mouth with her hand, deep in thought.

“He has a point Marinette,” Tikki chirped in.

“Yeah pigtails, if you really think that something large scale might be happening, you‘ll need all hands on deck. Plus, you guys have let her do a few patrols since the whole Queen Wasp debacle,” Plagg added.

“That’s true. So then when should we meet up?” Marinette asked.

“How about tonight, at the warehouse we do training stuff at.”

“You know, Adrien, knowing who you are, it makes sense how you were able to just buy a warehouse for us to practice in.”

“Being an Agreste has its perks. What can I say?” Adrien shrugged his shoulders, smirking.

“Bring Felix. I think we should introduce them both to the team and explain that they are back up. It could be really helpful to have basically body doubles if we need to plan a good attack. So we have that advantage.”

“Which we will need, since Hawkmoth did uncover who most of our allies were a while back.” 

“True. So, shall we both take some miraculous each and hand them out tonight?”

“We could, or we could just do it together before patrol tonight, they’re more likely to be together then,” Adrien countered. He had really just wanted an excuse to spend more time together, but logistically this would work too.

“Yeah Kitty, we can do that,” Marinette smiled at him. 

“Thanks Princess.”

“For what?”

“For just being you. And all you do for our team. Also, for the snacks. They are paw-sitively delicious. The cat’s meow really.” Adrien snickered. 

Marinette just laughed at him. The smile on her face warmed Adrien’s heart. He may not be ready to have the elephant in the room talked about now, but this wasn’t so bad. His Lady was with him and they had a plan. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter answers some of the questions some of you had the last chapter. I will try to get the next chapter out in a timely manner. My state just entered a state-mandated stay-at-home order. So I will be stuck in my house for a while. Hoping to be productive. -fingers crossed-


	6. Let's Get Down to Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here is the chapter a little early. (by early I mean that I have only combed through editing it like twice. )

Felix and Adrien touched down on the roof, landing next to the two ladybugs. A silent nod shared between them before the two newbies and Chat jumped through the roof hatch into the warehouse. They sat in the shadows, on beams watching below for the team to assemble. Felix looked around in awe at his newfound ability to see in the dark. He now understood why Adrien had warned him that running the rooftops at night could be addictive. With his heightened senses, he could hear the footsteps outside of his teammates' running the rooftops. The soft thud of Ryuko’s feet on the dirt below as she dropped through the hatch with grace. She was followed by Viperion and Queen Bee. The three were quickly joined by Rena Rouge and Carapace. Last to enter the facility was Ladybug. As she flew through the hatch and called everyone to attention, Bridgette crawled along the beams to sit next to Felix. 

_ “So here is the plan,” Ladybug said to the group of four, “You two, while slightly known, are not really that well known. Most of the media is saying that we had an off day about the akuma you fought. Which means no one really knows that there are two Ladybugs and Chat Noirs.”  _

_ “And even if anyone has gotten suspicious, they would never guess that you two managed to get yourselves cursed, and now there are two at all times,” Chat chimed in. _

_ “Anyway, Chat and I will go in first and when we say that we have an announcement, we will introduce you both,” Ladybug continued as if her partner had never interrupted. “Now, we will split up for now, do patrols and meet back up at the warehouse. So think of a name for yourselves, cause we can’t have two Ladybugs and Chat Noirs for team planning.” _

_ Bridgette and Felix just stood in quiet awe as Ladybug finished her speech. Both trying to comprehend how their younger counterpart grew up so fast, and more importantly, how to keep up. _

Chat looked over at the two sitting next to him and launched himself down from the beam. He landed with a smirk and stood up with a swagger that was pure Chat Noir. Felix watched his younger brother amazed at what he was seeing. Who was this? He knew it was his brother, but he had never really seen him act this way. While he knew of the heroes and the on-going battle he had never really paid attention to how the superheroes acted. 

“Sup my bitches,” Chat said, reaching out to Carapace and Viperion. Both of whom laughed as they gathered close together, high fiving and hugging as only teenage bros do. Felix looked over at his Ladybug. She was staring down at the group of female heroes. All of them talking in fast hushed tones. You could see just from their body language that Ryuko was the most serious of them all. 

Looking back and forth between all the heroes below, Felix realized that he had no idea what he was doing. All of the heroes below had such an air of familiarity with each other. They all seemed to bounce off of each other naturally, move as if part of one smooth machine. And this was just them talking. He could feel a slight panic start to build at the unknown of what he was walking, no running into.

He felt a hand cover his. His breathing calmed as he looked down and saw his Ladybug’s hand covering his. Her silver-blue eyes, staring deeply into his. He couldn’t help but be reminded of another pair of blue eyes he was anxious about looking into. To get lost in the possibility of a happiness he once had and still wanted. 

“Hey, it will be okay,” she whispered to him, bringing him back to the warehouse.

“Right, we just have to listen for our cue.”

“Yeah, but also, we did awesome with that akuma the other day. I am sure we will fit in real quick.”

Felix nodded, “Thanks Red.”

“Red?” 

“Well yeah, figured you would want your own nickname that wasn’t one we have to use to keep the public from knowing that we aren’t them you know?” 

“Oh, yeah,” she replied. Felix could see through the dark that a slight pink was starting to dust her cheeks.“Uh, we should listen so we don’t miss our cue here.”

Felix nodded, allowing himself one last glance at her eyes. He let his imagination run with the possibilities of why they tugged at his heart for only a moment before looking back at the heroes below. 

“Right, so things have been relatively quiet lately. Too quiet,” Ladybug stated, letting the group know the meeting was starting. “The only time Hawkmoth goes this quiet is when he is planning something big. So we need to make sure we are prepared and know all the cards we have to play.”

“Really, card metaphors? Ladybug, those are so  _ last _ team meeting,” Queen Bee interrupted. 

Ladybug just stared at her unblinking.

“Hey Queenie, let the Lady finish without interrupting, got it?” Chat smiled at her and crossed his arms. 

Queen Bee looked away, mumbling a low apology. 

“Right, so as I was saying, we should go over some stuff,” Ladybug continued. “Chat and I need to address a few things. As I am sure you all have figured out, or maybe remember, we’re all around the same age. So I know school will be starting up again soon for most of us. This means that we should plan out patrol schedules for all of us accordingly. Also, you’ll all be considered permanent miraculous holders for now.”

“Ladybug and I agree that since we don’t know how big whatever Hawkmoth is planning could be, it is better for you all to have your miraculous on hand instead of us trying to find you all in the chaos,” Chat chimed in. “So when we say patrol schedules, we mean it. Ladybug and I have been doing this with just us two for too long now. We’re realizing that things are bigger than us two. We think that Hawkmoth might have other allies, and we can’t do this alone.”

“What do you mean by that dude?” Carapace asked.

“We mean that we have reason to believe that Hawkmoth is reaching out to get more power, to find allies more powerful than we have faced so far.” Ladybug replied.

Silence settled on the group as they all thought about the implications of what could happen. Chat looked over at Ladybug, and nodded at her.

“We have one last thing to tell you all,” Ladybug started, wringing her hands.

“You’re finally dating!” Rena loudly declared. 

A deep blush spread on both Chat and Ladybug’s faces. 

“R-rena, what did I say about interrupting Ladybug?” Chat stuttered.

“No, we aren’t dating,” Ladybug hissed through gritted teeth. “Stop asking that.” She stopped and took a deep sigh. “If we do or don’t start dating it has nothing to do with the team. You all have never declared if you are dating another team member so I don’t see why it should matter if we do. Besides, this is more important than that.”

The team looked at Ladybug and Chat Noir confused. All of them puzzled, except Viperion. He simply looked between the two lead heroes before stating, “It has to do with the two up in the rafters doesn’t it?”

With that, the whole team looked up. 

“Holy cats,” Rena cursed under her breath. 

“What, what is it?” Queen Bee asked.

Carapace and Ryuko just looked at each other. Neither had night vision, so they knew that they would just have to wait to see what, or rather who, was in the darkness. 

With the whole team looking up at them, Felix looked over at his Ladybug. 

“Ready for this Red?”

“I guess I have to be.”

The two jumped down, landing in front of the group.

“There are two of them,” Carapace mumbled. 

“Yes, well it is a long story,” Ladybug sighed.

“And we don’t have all night. So long story short, Ladybug and I both had emergencies earlier this week when the akuma struck the other day,” Chat said.

“You mean the one whining about waifus?” Rena asked.

“Waifus are serious business, but yes,” Chat replied. “Anyway, they took care of that akuma. They are both people we trust very much, otherwise, we wouldn’t have trusted them to do that. Also, they both happen to be older than us and know a thing or two about linguistics we don’t.”

“Exactly, so we had them translating the grimoire,” Ladybug chimed in.

“Wait, I thought Hawkmoth had the grimoire,” Ryuko interrupted.

“Yes, well that was before I broke into the Agreste mansion and did a little cat burglary,” Chat grinned. “Anyway, they were translating, and-”

“And we got cursed,” Felix finished. 

Everyone turned to look at him and his partner. Felix could feel the questions through their stares. He knew he should say something more, but couldn’t think of anything more.

“A-anyway, we are the newbies. We are Pinyin and Hēi Māo,” Felix’s partner stuttered out. “We are happy to meet all of you, and will do our best to assist the team in any way we can.” 

With that, Pinyin bowed. Felix quickly followed, matching her half bow. After a few seconds they both rose up together. 

“So, how exactly do you know our fearless leaders then?” Rena questioned.

“Ah, um, I have known Ladybug for quite some time. I trust her with my life, as she trusts me with hers,” Pinyin replied.

“And I have the good fortune of being close to Chat,” Felix finished. “By the way, Viperion, I believe it was, how did you know we were up there?”

Viperion chuckled as he tapped the side of his mask. “Vipers can see heat.” 

“Ah, that makes so much sense!” Pinyin exclaimed.

“Why the Chinese names though?” Ryuko asked, “I mean, you maybe. But he looks as white as Chat Noir, which is pretty pasty.”

“Um, well,” Pinyin started.

“Because we speak Chinese, and the miraculous we all have, or in our case our curses, are of Chinese origin,” Felix cut in. “You all got to choose your names, and so do we. We may not have the ability to choose our curse but I won’t let you take away our ability to choose our own names.”

Pinyin looked down, a blush dusting her cheeks and her brow furrowed. Felix took that as a cue to step slightly in front of her, ready to defend her if necessary. She was his partner after all. Ladybug and Chat Noir looked at each other, the team, then back at the new heroes. Pinyin took one last deep breath then looked up at the group.

“Look, we didn’t ask to be cursed, we just are,” Pinyin snapped. “And as it stands, you could probably use the help. It helps a lot that Hawkmoth doesn’t know we exist so that gives us the upper hand. We also have the book and a pretty good way of translating it. If we were going to do something to betray or hurt the team, don’t you think we would have already done it by now, and made off with the book? Or done something to Ladybug and Chat Noir? Obviously we know their civilian forms if we were the ones who took their place during that akuma battle. Plus to top it all off, we are most definitely the oldest ones here and whatever happened to respecting your elders?!” 

As Pinyin finished yelling her rant at the team, Felix crossed his arms and smirked. Now that was his partner. That was the fierce woman he had been used to. Granted they had only met two or three times now, but she was feisty. Reminding him not for the first time that night of the dark-haired feisty woman who seemed to occupy more and more of his thoughts than he was aware of.

All the other heroes shifted in place awkwardly. While Ladybug held her face in her hands to mask the growing grin and Chat looked back at Pinyin and Hēi Māo to give them a thumbs up with a grin. It stayed silent for some time before Carapace finally spoke up.

“So what are you both cursed with then?”

“I am cursed with Bad Luck,” Felix answered.

“I am cursed with Good Luck, and it isn’t all that great,” Pinyin replied. 

“So you have the extremes of the Ladybug and Cat miraculouses?” Rena asked. 

“More or less,” Felix said. “Ladybug, shall we finish the meeting then? I think we all have the basics for mine and Pinyin’s involvement.”

“Ah, yeah. That works out. First things first, we need to set up communication outside of the suit. So I hope you all are ready to set up a burner email.”

The team all got their new emails set up and exchanged email numbers in no time. This meant that the main event of the night was coming up. Fight training. Felix had taken some martial arts as well as fencing so he was confident enough with a normal fight, but he was unsure how he would measure up against the veteran heroes. He braved a glance over at Pinyin. She stood hands on her hips, exuding confidence. She looked over and caught his eyes, shooting him a quick smile. Chat Noir reached around to get his baton from its spot on his back. 

“All right! Let’s get down to business!” he began to sing.

“To defeat the Huns!” Carapace and Viperion chimed in before bursting into laughter.

“Chaton, please be serious here,” Ladybug chastised. She reached into her yo-yo and brought out a pouch. “Okay everyone, you know the drill, grab a marble, then team up with your matching color.”

The bag slowly passed from each hero to the next. It finally made its way over to Felix. He reached in and pulled out a blue marble.

“Okay, just to go over it again, cause some of you forget each time-” Ladybug started.

“It was one time!” Ryuko exclaimed.

“Just the same,” Ladybug continued, “No powers. We are sparing which means fighting only. Got it?”

Felix looked around as people grouped together. Ladybug with Carapace, Queen Bee and Viperion, Chat with Ryuko and Rena. Pinyin held up a blue marble and smiled at him.

“Guess we have to show these kids how it is done huh?” she giggled. 

“Something like that I guess,” Felix said, putting the marble in his pocket. Once done, he took a fighting stance. “Jue let me know when you’re ready and we can sta-”

A yo-yo flew at his face. He had managed to dodge it, but just barely. Pinyin came at him again with another throw of her yo-yo. He did a side dodge, landing on all fours. She quickly attacked again, giving him little time to adjust. As he jumped, he reached back for his baton. Extending it, he gave himself a boosted jump, allowing himself to land behind her. Before she could react, he was up behind her. Arms wrapped around, baton in front, he had her trapped; but not for long. Pinyin threw her yo-yo up, wrapping it on a beam, and swung herself and Felix forward. The momentum forced him to let go, landing on the ground, separated from his baton. 

This would have meant the end for Felix, but mid-swing, Pinyin realized she didn’t have a spot to land worked out. With Felix sprinting below, she had a split second to choose to swing again or land and attack before he could get his baton back. She let go and flew off the string, rolling as she hit the ground to avoid damage. She had landed halfway between Felix and his baton. But in her haste, had left her yo-yo attached to the beam above. 

Felix stopped, and smiled. Without her yo-yo it meant that it all came down to hand to hand. The two heroes started to circle each other, sizing the other up. Finally, ending the stalemate, Pinyin rushed forward. Felix blocked strike after strike. Eventually throwing blows of his own, only to be blocked. They exchanged fist after fist, kick after kick, moving fluidly together as if in a dance rather than a sparring match. Each time, Felix would get so close to her, only to have to back away to block. Neither hero knew how much time had passed as they continued their dance. They had moved all around the warehouse, around the other groups, finally coming up to a wall. Pinyin with her back to the wall, turned for one last kick. Felix blocked, sweeping her leg to the side and in one fluid movement, grabbed her arms pinning them to her body. 

“I think this means I won Red,” he said through his heavy breathing. As he smirked down at her, she looked up with a grin of her own.

“Oh not yet Pretty Boy.”

Pinyin swung her left leg between his and hooked his knee. As she pulled forward, his knee buckled, causing him to let go. As he continued to lurch forward, Pinyin threw her head forward, and collided with his nose. With the sudden movement backward, Felix started flailing to catch his balance. To take advantage of the situation, Pinyin grabbed his bell and pulled him forward, faces only just apart.

“Had enough yet Kitty Cat?” she smirked at him. 

“Nowhere near that,” he purred. 

Felix could feel the blood starting to pool in his mouth and run from his nose. While aware of the injuries, they were the furthest thing from his mind as he started into Pinyin’s eyes; the strangest sense of deja vu overcoming him. The intensity in her eyes was so easy to get lost in as their breath mingled together, noses inches from each other.

The sound of clapping brought the two of them out of their world and back to the warehouse.

“Dang, I mean, I knew you knew how to fight Hēi Māo, but not like that,” Chat cheered. 

Carapace and Queen Bee stood off to the side, jaws dropped. Ryuko, Rena, and Viperion seemed to be simultaneously going through the various stages of disbelief. Ladybug just simply smiled at the two of them, giving a nod.

Felix felt his face change to an even deeper red than it already was from the fighting and blood. Suddenly very aware of the blood in his mouth, he spat it off to the side before reaching up to wipe his face. 

“Good fight,” he said, reaching out his clean hand.

Pinyin looked down, then smiled back up at him. Grabbing his hand, she shook it once. 

“Not too bad yourself,” she replied, “you know, for a newbie.”

At that, Felix couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. He laughed hard but only for a moment before choking on his own spit and blood. 

“Oh shoot, are you okay?” Pinyin asked quickly at his side.

“Yeah, just bleeding.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Did you really mean that back there?”

“Mean what?” Pinyin asked.

“When you called me Pretty boy. Do you really think I’m pretty?”

Pinyin’s eyes went wide. She opened her mouth to reply, only to close it again. A blush the color of her suit spread past her face, and down her neck. Before she could reply, Ladybug started talking.

“Ah, I should have probably warned you that when we spar like this, my miraculous healing doesn’t always work. So hopefully it will cover most injuries, or else you will have to explain to those in your life why you have bruises,” Ladybug explained.

Ladybug summoned her lucky charm, and then cast healing. Given that the damage all happened in the warehouse, the ladybugs only flew around the area before disappearing. Felix knew one thing, if every match was going to be like that, he was no longer nervous about fight training.

*****

Bridgette woke up before the sun as usual. Kiki was asleep next to her phone seemingly unbothered of the alarm going off. Bridgette stretched feeling a lingering ache in her ribs from the fight training last night. After the miraculous cure, she felt good as new. She had no bruising, and only minimal stiffness. A blush crept across her face as she remembered the way Hēi Māo had pinned her during their fight. The feeling of his hands on her arms might have only been a memory at this point, but if she closed her eyes and concentrated she could feel the heat as if it had just happened. 

She had only seen  _ her  _ chaton a few times, but she could tell she was falling fast. While there were similarities between Hēi Māo and Chat Noir, she knew hers was different. His hair was longer and framed his face. The line of his jaw was sharper, and his eyes more intense. It was that green intensity that stood out to her. The way they analyzed their surroundings was always so familiar yet mysterious to her. 

“Oh, are you thinking about him again?” Kiki giggled.

“Ah, what gave it away?”

“You were blushing and looked like you were about to start a giggle fit.”

“Oh geez. I got it bad. But I just can’t help it Kiki, there is just something about him that makes me feel...just… ack. I don’t know if I would call it love, but I do like him a lot.”

“Well you are linked together through the curse, so you will feel a connection for sure passed just what you feel for him.”

“I suppose that is true. Speaking of, how would you normally break this curse?” Bridgette turned to pick out clothes for the day.

“Well when Ladybugs are cursed it is the opposite of when Black Cats are cursed. So when the cat is cursed they need a kiss from the ladybug, a symbol of the beginning of something to break it. A ladybug needs the black cat to break something. Usually it is that they get their heartbroken by the black cat. But I am not sure how a kiss of love and a heartbreak could work. To break both curses. This is because the cursed person can’t let the other person know if they want the curse to be broken that way. You both know each other is cursed. So I am not sure how this will turn out honestly.”

“Hmmm, that isn’t super helpful.”

Bridgette scrunched her face, tying her hair up. Quietly she opened her door and made her way downstairs. Today would be Felix’s first day working for her. She knew he was a quick learner and had no doubts he would do well in the bakery. But she couldn’t deny that she really wasn’t sure if she should have hired him given that he isn’t that great with people. But deep down she still wanted him to be near her, to be happy with her. 

Once downstairs, she found her favorite apron and got to work. Kiki, floated along behind her, vibrating with excitement at the thought of fresh baked goods to snack on. 

“You know, once he gets here, you can’t be out in the open right?”

“Yeah, but I can still get something to snack on right?”

Bridgette chuckled at her little kwami. She was definitely more demanding about food than Tikki was, but she was happy to have her just as she was. Kiki flew around and gathered the tools needed to start the day while Bridgette got coffee ready and turned on the stereo. She began work on the more difficult pastries and hummed along with the stereo. The clock on the wall began to sing with the start of the hour. As it’s music filled the bakery, a sharp knock on the back door rang through. Bridgette looked down at her watch. 5:00. That must be Felix. Bridgette took a deep breath and Kiki gave her a reassuring two paws up before flying off to hide.

*****

Riding a bike to work in the pre-dawn morning was a surreal experience for Felix. He had rarely been out at this time that could be considered both too early and too late. There was an almost quiet to his surroundings. This would normally be a welcome change of pace, but today all it did was allow Felix to think too much about the coming day. About how work would go. About her.

By the time he had gotten to the bakery and parked his bike nearby, he had worked himself up into a frenzy of unresolved feelings and unknown possibilities. While he could not deny the magnetic connection that could be found between his partner and himself, he found himself always wanting to go back to Bridgette. Because when she was in his heart, he felt like he was home. He felt right. Even if he felt... sad...lonely even. 

Felix walked up to the side door. His watch said 4:45. He had a few minutes to prep himself to go inside. Taking a deep breath he looked down at Jiji.

“I am here for work, everything will be fine, right?” 

“I don’t know why you are asking me. I am just a kwami. Not some sort of love expert.”

“I never said I needed love advice.”

“Oh, but you do,” Jiji griped. He burrowed himself further down into Felix’s pocket. 

“Oh, and I am sure you have fantastic advice.”

“Yeah, tell her you like her. Then bring her close to you like a tasty piece of cheese, then, you take a bite.”

“Are we talking about people or cheese here?”

“What is the difference at this point?”

“Jesus, you really  _ are  _ half of Plagg. Jiji, we don’t eat people.”

“Who said anything about eating,” Jiji grinned up at him, nothing but mischief in his eyes

Felix scrunched his face. He was offended by the kwami’s brazen straight-forward nature but found it hard to argue with his logic. 

“I am not going to bite her,” Felix finally said, hoping that was the end of it. “And don’t cause trouble while I am working. If you are good I can try and sneak you some treats for later.” 

Jiji just shrugged, unbothered by it all, and fell asleep.

Felix closed his eyes and took deep calming breaths. He was doing his best to think of his outward motivation for this job. To think about a new page in the grimoire to decode, anything but the time ticking away till he had to walk into that building. His watch beeped alerting him that it was 5:00. His eyes flew open and his fist rapt upon the door. In those precious few seconds, his mind ran like it was trying to PR for the next summer Olympics. 

_ This is it Felix, you have to do this. You need this money for Adrien. Be the big brother he deserves. Yeah, this is all about Adrien. Not Bridgette. The fact that you happen to be working with an amazing, beautiful, talented, brilliant, witty, smart-no! Snap out of it Felix, we are here for work. Not thinking about your boss like that. God, she is my boss. Of course she is. She always had been. NOT HELPING YOURSELF HERE FELIX!  _

By the time the door had opened in front of him, Felix was a deer caught in the headlights of Bridgette’s stare. 

“Uh, hey Fe, come on in. Did you not have coffee yet today? You look out of it,” Bridgette commented, stepping aside so he could enter.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s it. I just haven’t had any coffee yet today,” Felix lied. He had three cups before he even put his clothes on that morning. “4 is a bit earlier than when I normally get up, yeah know.”

“Really? I seem to recall you always getting up at 5,” Bridgette smirked at him.

“Ah, yeah. Well, that was only for that one semester. I like to wake up later and enjoy my mornings. Plus, I, ugh, stayed up too late last night,” Felix explained, the tone in his voice betraying any attempt at appearing collected. Why couldn’t he just calm down? It wasn’t like that was a lie. He had been up late last night. The lingering bruises on his back and sides proved that. Let alone the large bruise left on his nose that he had to cover up this morning. Thank god for Adrien being a model and knowing a lot about make-up. He took one last deep breath. 

“Sorry Bri, I am just nervous. I want to do well at this for Adrien’s sake.”

“I can understand. That kid needs you now more than ever. I think it is commendable you are doing this. You seem to have made a lot of changes lately.”

“More than you might realize,” Felix chuckled. 

“Oh?” Bridgette replied, eyebrow cocked.

“I just mean, I have had to learn to be more open and social with him,” Felix reached his hand up to rub his neck, “He is very talkative. And I need to be able to be there for him.”

Bridgette smiled at him. 

“I get it,” she said, handing over a thermos of coffee. “There is cream in the small fridge over there if you need it. This will be your work cup. We need to make sure you have one with a lid. Aprons are on the wall, you can go and pick one out if you want, then put it on the empty hook that has your name taped above it.”

Felix gave a nod and took a sip of the coffee she had handed him. It was perfect. Black with two spoons of sugar and a dash of cinnamon. There was even a hint of espresso meaning that she had made him a shot in the dark. It was his favorite morning drink. His heart skipped a small beat at the realization that she remembered what he liked. With a smile, he got to work.

Felix soon found himself understanding and working well alongside Bridgette. The recipes needed for each baked good were easy for him to follow. It was like pieces of a very precise puzzle. He would mix the ingredients in the mixers, she would knead the dough. On more than one occasion he had caught himself staring at her arms as she kneaded. Bridgette had always been strong, but her arm muscles were so lean. Feelings aside, it was impressive. 

With the six o’clock hour came time to open the store. He was unsure of how well he would do with the people but started to head out anyway. Bridgette turned to see him getting ready to go out front.

“You are just working the back today Fe,” she told him.

“What?”

“I know you aren’t super comfortable with people, so you are going to be working back here with Mari. I can handle out front well enough by myself. It is the last day before we close for the break, so most of the customers should be coming in this evening anyway. We normally aren’t busy the morning before the break so don’t worry.”

“If you say so Boss,” Felix chuckled. 

“Boss? Really Fe?”

“Well you are. Hey Boss, quick question, if break starts tomorrow, why did you hire me now?”

“Ah, so I can train you over the break and not have to worry about any customer related messes at the same time,” she grinned at him before scrunching up her face. “And stop calling me Boss, it is weird.”

Felix couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face. Her animated expressions were just too cute for him not to. Marinette came down stairs just then.

“Hey Felix, morning!” Marinette exclaimed, slapping Felix on the back where a large bruise from last night's training remained.

It took all of Felix’s willpower to not scream out as the pain rippled out from where the slap collided with his back down into his fingertips. Even with his best efforts, he could not mask the pain on his face or the small whimper that escaped his lips. Bridgette stopped what she was doing, shocked at what had just happened.

“Mari, why did you hit him?”

“I barely tapped him is all,” Marinette innocently explained. “How was I supposed to know he was hurt? Ooh, are those croissants for us?” 

“Yes, now get to work” Bridgette sighed.

“Will do, have fun!” Marinette started toward the front, turned quickly and grinned. She turned to Felix and made eye contact as she smiled. “Sorry about the bruise.” 

Felix just stood shocked, watching as Marinette walked out of the room. Of all the places to hit, she had to hit right where Chat’s baton had hit him in a sparring match. It almost felt deliberate. He shook his head dismissing any thoughts of coincidences and turned back to Bridgette and his work. 

“So, you are bruised, and you were up late? Felix Agreste, what were you doing?” Bridgette questioned with a teasing tone.

“Nothing. Bruises happen, and so does insomnia.”

“Right, sure it wasn’t a rough night then?” 

“Bridgette...I...no,” he stammered. 

“What? Can’t I tease you?”

“I… You can, but I think you should ask yourself if you really want an answer to the questions you are asking before you ask them.”

Bridgette stood shocked as Felix maintained fierce eye contact. His face slowly getting redder. She blinked one...two...three times before she understood completely what had just been said. A blush spread from her ears down her cheeks highlighting the freckles that were often overlooked. Her eyes went wide before she looked down.

“I -I-I just, back at the coffee shop you said we could still be friends. And isn’t that something that friends ask each other?” she stammered, speeding up with each word.

“I suppose it is,” Felix said, feeling the lingering heat on his face. “But to answer your question, no, I fell on my bike. And then I couldn’t get comfortable because everything hurt so I didn’t fall asleep when I wanted to.”

Felix looked back down at the dough he was making and started back to work. The music from the stereo and the noise from out front filled the room, but couldn’t drown out the silence between them. Thick with the awkward implications of the conversation they worked in their own worlds. The harmony that they had found earlier was broken. And with this, came more burnt croissants, flattened cookies, and yeast that refused to activate. Even though they both were working the same as before, nothing went right. 

“You know what, Mari is supposed to be back here. I will go get her,” Bridgette muttered leaving him alone.

Felix knew the smooth morning was too good to be true. He was cursed with bad luck after all. It was bound to happen. He wondered, not for the first time that morning, if Bridgette had truly fully moved on. Was she dating other people? Did she want to really hear him say yes to her question? Maybe it would be better for both of them if he just moved on and tried dating someone else. But it wasn’t what he wanted. 

He could hold a candle for her and still be professional about it. He had done so for years when they were first starting university. So why was now any different? Was the curse really affecting him that much? Or had he just been so out and away from the world the last few years, stuck in his books and studies that he couldn’t remember how?

_ Yeah, tell her you like her. Then bring her close to you like a tasty piece of cheese, then, you take a bite. _

Felix shook his head at the words echoing through his head. Oh no, he was not going to do that. He would go to the grave with these feelings if it meant that she would be happy. No curse would change that. 

“What is with the intense stare at the batter there? Did brownies do something to offend you?” Marinette asked him.

Felix looked up startled. “No, I was just lost in thought is all.”

“Sorry about hitting your back. I shouldn’t have done that. Also sorry my cousin is awkward.”

“Oh, no it is all fine.”

“You two know each other right?” Marinette tilted her head to the side.

“Yeah, we do, from university,” Felix replied, not hiding the grin that snuck onto his face.

“I haven’t got to hear a lot about her university friends and stuff, I would love to hear how you met.”

Felix laughed a little at the inquisitive girl. 

“Yeah? Okay. Well, we first met in a Chinese lesson. My father had insisted that Adrien and I know Chinese. He figured our schooling would require English so Chinese was an extra that I had to learn. So by the time I was in university, I was fairly fluent. I signed up for Chinese language lessons to help teach students who were new. I needed a community service credit anyway for what I was studying.”

“Wait, aren’t you still studying? You need to add more sugar. Make sure you zero out the kitchen scale with the weight of the bowl as you go. I think Adrien mentioned you were doing schooling.”

Felix blinked a few times at her seamless transition.

“Yes I am, but I only have some easy online classes left this semester so I would say that my degree is basically done.”

“Ok. So what was she like? Was Bri just as silly and loud as always?”

“Yes and no. She was loud and confident, but sometimes she would also get really shy. She blushed a lot. And she would always make the most awful jokes, just to make me smile. She taught me how to do laundry and how to cook some basic foods.” Felix could feel his cheeks starting to ache from smiling with the bruise. “She always knew just what I needed to hear whenever I was feeling down or uncertain. We met right after my mom disappeared so she helped me a lot with that.”

Marinette grinned sweetly at him, nodding along with his story.

“She never once made me feel like I was less than. And coming from my family’s house that was something so different. She was always warm and could fill any room with light just by smiling in it. And when she laughed, which was often since she always told bad jokes, it would ring. You always knew that when she looked at you, you were really seen.”

“It sounds like you really were close.”

“Yeah, we were...I miss it.”

“Felix, can I ask you one more question?”

“Yeah go for it.”

“Did you love her?”

“It is hard not to,” Felix chuckled, “Bridgette made falling in love with her so easy.”

“Then do you still love her?”

Felix stopped what he was doing. He slowly looked up at the teenager in front of him. The question still lingered in the air between them. Noise from out front drifted in as orders were called and people laughed. For that one moment, time froze as Felix replied with the only word he could. The one word that captured his Truth.

“Yes.”


	7. Baby don't hurt me. No More.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay, after a long-awaited time and many broken promises of updates past, here is where I have Chapter 7 at. I think i will be able to post more frequently if I don't push myself to write more each time I write a chapter. So starting with this one, I will go from 5.5-6k words per chapter to probably just closer to 4.5-5k. I still need to function at work too. And I don't want to give up on this. Thank you for your patience!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so when writing I normally listen to French Jazz cause it is low key my jam. But for the last scene, I ended up listening to The Night We Met by Lord Huron, and The Balad of Cleopatra by the Lumineers. So if it sounds sad, sorry I guess. I am a sad soul. It happens.

Bridgette was in a groove. Yes, this was the busiest rush she had dealt with all week, but she could handle it. Good luck be damned. She was taking orders, making drinks, and somehow not losing her cool. That isn’t to say that she didn’t release a deep sigh of relief upon seeing a blonde mop of hair come up next to her and start making espresso drinks for her. It wasn’t for another ten minutes that it had registered, however, that the one making drinks wasn’t her new employee Felix, but the younger Agreste. 

“Adrien, what are you doing back here?” she exclaimed.

“I worked here last summer. My father thought I was giving Chinese lessons to Marinette, and I was, but I was also working for Tom,” he replied, eyes never straying from the frothing wand as he created the right amount of foam. Topping the drink off with latte art, he slid the cup across the counter, “I have a macchiato for Madaline! Making drinks on an espresso machine isn’t really a skill I lost. Especially since Nathalie had one installed in our house so I can make stuff at home too. Mocha for JohnClaude!”

Bridgette was awestruck by his ability to move seamlessly between orders. She always knew he modeled, but never that he could do much else. 

“Well, thanks for the help, Adrien. Whatever you were gonna get is definitely on the house today,” Bridgette smiled at him.

“Sounds perfect,” Adrien smiled back. 

The two of them fell into a grove, getting through the rush best they could. But once word spread that _the_ Adrien Agreste was making lattes at one of the best bakeries in Paris, the crowd only grew. 

Once the crowd had thinned, it became obvious they needed to restock. With the number of croissants so low, both Bridgette and Adrien would need to go to the back to retrieve more. 

“Guess it is time to restock kiddo. At a stopping point with your drink there?”

Adrien finished gulping down the last of his coffee, putting his cup down below the counter. He flashed his cheesiest smile before replying, “Yeah, let’s get this bread.”

Bridgette rolled her eyes but started walking to the entry to the back. As they came up to the doorway, she could hear the conversation in the other room.

“Felix, can I ask you one more question?” they heard Marinette’s voice from around the corner. 

“Yeah go for it,” Felix replied. 

“Did you love her?”

“It is hard not to.” Bridgette could hear Felix chuckle. A slight sting hit her heart as she thought about who he could be talking about. “Bridgette made falling in love with her so easy.”

Her eyes went wide. She instinctively covered her mouth and flattened herself along the wall. She had known this right? She thought back on every interaction between them. Of course, it all made sense that he would love her. But then why had he never told her in so many words? She had a very distinct feeling that she wasn’t supposed to be hearing this conversation. 

“Then do you still love her?” 

Marinette’s question rang through the air. As the moment of silence stretched in the other room, Bridgette closed her eyes, willing herself to walk away. To not hear his answer. She wanted him to love her, and to not. Gods how it would be easy if he could just not. She could just continue as she had been when he stopped talking to her. They would just be coworkers, she could explore the possibilities of her feelings for her partner without a second thought. But also, if he did...

“Yes,” Felix finally replied. 

Bridgette couldn’t help but let a small tear slip at his confession. God, how could he? After all this time? She felt a hand touch her shoulder. She whipped her head around to see Adrien. A sad smile on his face, finger to his lips. 

“Then why haven’t you told her?” Marinette asked him.

“I thought you said one more question two questions ago?” Felix mumbled. 

“Fair enough. I just feel that you should tell her.”

Adrien motioned to the front with his head. But Bridgette couldn’t find it in herself to move. She was frozen, hanging onto each word from the other room. 

“Marinette, she has never felt that way about me, and I have to respect that.” _So not true? How can this man be so blind?_ “So if that means keeping this to myself and seeing her be happy in herself, or in another relationship, then I will.” _Oh, go martyr yourself somewhere else you...dumb-dumb!_ “If I ever feel like she wants to hear how I feel, then yes, I will tell her. But until then, some things are best left alone.”

“Oh we aren’t leaving this alone,” she grumbled in a low tone, any sentimentality gone.

“Go back up front, I will handle this,” Adrien whispered to her, the sadness in his eyes still there even though the smile was now gone.

“But-”

“Bri, not now. We aren’t supposed to hear all this..”

Bridgette peeled herself from the wall, “Fine,” she hissed.

She turned and walked back upfront. Now was not the time for her to go back there. Adrien could handle this. He was right. Now was not the time to confront the man with the emotional intelligence of a glow stick. She would just have to do it another time. She marched back to the counter and started to make herself a triple shot latte. Going through the motions helped her calm down until finally with that first sip she remembered Tikki’s words.

_You will be lucky in relationships too, which can cause you to wonder if the relationship was luck or genuine interest._

That must be it! There was no way he could still genuinely love her after all this time. After all, they had just barely reconnected after almost two years of no contact. This must be her curse in effect. Oh _, thank god_. This was definitely her curse. And if it is curse related, then there is no reason to have a confrontation and make things awkward between her and her new employee. She can handle his little curse induced crush. This was no big deal. She would just have to come up with a plan of her boundaries and how to keep things cool and friendly. That was all that she needed to do. 

“Keep things cool and friendly,” she mumbled to herself. “Cool… and friendly. Cool… like a cucumber.”

“What’s like a cucumber?” Marinette’s voice rang out from behind, startling Bridgette.

“Uh, pickles are.” Bridgette quickly replied. _Really that was the best you could come up with??_

“Well given that pickles are made from cucumbers I would think that they are rather like their source,” Felix replied. 

At Felix’s reply, Bridgette could feel her whole face heat up. 

“Just thinking out loud Fe.”

Felix smiled at her for a moment before giving a slight chuckle. “Okay, Bri. Adrien said you guys needed more stuff up here.” He lifted up a tray of various pastries for proof. “Want me to help, or should I go back for now?”

“Ah, you can help. Mari, will you show Fe where those go in the left case? Adrien and I will stock the cookies here.”

“Sure. This way Felix.” 

Bridgette watched them walk to the other case before looking over at Adrien and their case to fill. He was already placing cookies in their respective spots.

“So, Paris’s golden boy worked part-time for a summer here? Did that never hit the tabloids?”

Adrien looked up at Bridgette as she crouched down next to him. 

“No, not really. It is amazing what messy hair, normal clothes, and glasses can let you get away with,” A small smirk lit up his face. “Tom was very patient with me at first. I did start out at first here to help Mari with some Chinese lessons. But then one day the bakery was swamped and every one was needed.”

“And Uncle let you help out too?”

Adrien smiled brightly as he reminisced. “It is less that he let me help so much as I decided no one was going to stop me from helping. So they slowly trained me, and I started working here” Adrien’s phone beeped noting the hour. He looked over at Bridgette and gave a quick smile. “Well, that means I have to go, but before I do…” Adrien leaned in slightly and lowered his voice, “we weren’t supposed to hear anything earlier.”

“I know Adrien,” Bridgette replied, rolling her eyes. “I won’t do anything rash or even say anything for that matter. You just worry about you, okay? And take another pastry and a drink as a thanks for helping.”

Adrien perked up at the mention of the free food. 

“Ah yesss!” he exclaimed, hurrying to the espresso machine.

Felix and Marinette walked over to join them. “Adrien, what are you doing? You should leave soon to get to your appointment. Also, do you even know how to use that thing?” he asked.

“He worked here last summer apparently,” Bridgette off-handedly told him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

Felix’s eyes went wide as he watched his brother froth milk and sling shots of espresso. Before long, two drinks were sitting on the counter in to-go cups. 

“Mari, ready to go?” Adrien asked, picking up both cups. 

“Of course, let's get going,” Marinette smiled at him. She reached below the counter and grabbed her purse. 

Both teens yelled good-byes as they walked out the door and down the street. Felix scoffed and shook his head as he watched them blend into the crowd outside. 

“Guess there is more that I have to learn about him,” he said.

“Isn’t that the constant struggle though?” Bridgette mumbled, tilting her head slightly. “I didn’t even know Mari was going with him today. But I suppose it makes sense.” She turned her head and looked at him, making eye contact, “Having secrets every now and then is just part of growing up.”

Before Felix could respond with more than a shocked face, Bri patted his shoulder and walked off to the backroom to continue stocking.

*****

Mari sat next to an anxious Adrien in the waiting room. His right foot bouncing his leg up and down. There were many things she loved about Adrien. She could list off several in her sleep. But this… the slight squeak of his shoe just slightly off-beat with the ticking of the waiting room clock, his hands to his mouth while he slightly chewed absentmindedly on his thumbnail; all of that combined was just enough to set off her anxiety. She took a deep breath and reached her left hand out, placing it gently on his right knee. He stopped and looked at her. His face had that blank look of uncertainty. She smiled at him. 

“I guess I’m just nervous, heh,” he told her.

Marinette reached up with her right hand and cupped his face, “I could tell.” She ran her thumb along his cheekbone. He closed his eyes, sighing deeply, and leaned into her touch. “You got this Adrien. You are one of the bravest people I know. You would go to a doctor for broken bones, a counselor is not that different,” she smiled at him, keeping her tone soft. “This is just a doctor that can help you sort through things. If you really need me to, I can go back there with you.”

Adrien smiled warmly at her, “No, this is something I think I need to do alone. At least this time.”

“Okay, but afterward, we can always go get ice cream if you want.”

“Ice cream would be great. But you know what would be even better?” A mischievous smirk replacing his smile as he covered her right hand with his.

“What?” she giggled at him. “You have already had more than enough coffee.” 

“No,” Adrien replied, pulling her hand down and holding it in front of his face, slowly bringing it up to his lips. “A kiss.” 

“Agreste,” a doctor called out from the doorway in the back of the room. 

A deep red spread from ear to ear on Marinette’s face. Adrien stood up and walked toward the doctor, the bright blush on his face betraying his attempt to be cool. A slight snicker from the receptionist could be heard, but only just barely over all the thought that echoed loudest in Mari’s head; _That damn cat._

***** 

Adrien entered the waiting room. He looked over at Marinette who was deeply concentrated on her sketchbook, pencil flying over the page, her tongue sticking out slightly to the side. He chuckled quietly to himself as he walked over to the receptionist. 

“So it says here that we will see you in two weeks, that sound about right?” The receptionist asked while typing away on her computer.

“Ah, yep. Two weeks is what we agreed on,” Adrien replied awkwardly. 

The receptionist smiled coyly at him, “She is really cute, you’re a lucky man.”

“I’m sorry I am not following,” he replied.

“Your girlfriend over there. She is very cute. And it is very sweet of her to come to support you.”

Adrien blinked twice before fully comprehending her words, “Oh, we’re- she’s- ah… thank you.”

A small giggle escaped the receptionist as a blush started to dust his cheeks. Adrien awkwardly smiled and nodded at the receptionist one last time before turning and walking over the Marinette. As he walked over, he couldn’t help but notice just how beautiful she was at that moment. The receptionist was right in so many ways. She was a beautiful person inside and out, and he was damn lucky she was there for him. She always had been on both sides of the mask.

Adrien stopped next to her. She was still absorbed in her sketchbook, seemingly unaware that he was near. He leaned over to see what she was working on. An elegant dress was coming to life with each pencil stroke Marinette made. Adrien couldn’t help but smile to himself as he watched her finish up the design. 

“Beautiful,” he whispered, looking up from the design to Mari. 

“Oh, Adrien. You startled me,” Mari straightened up and closed the sketchbook. “It was just a quick sketch while waiting for you really.”

Adrien smiled softly at her, “I wasn’t talking just about the sketch.” He held his hand out for her. “Shall we go My Lady? I believe we are overdue for some ice cream.” Adrien winked. 

“Adrien,” she hissed at him, “don’t call me that.”

“Fine, then I will have to think of something else Buginette. But I will call you by some nickname. But seriously, let’s go. I am starving.” Marinette reached up to take his hand, allowing him to help her stand up. A few stray hairs fell in front of her eyes as she straightened up. Adrien reached up and gently swept them to the side. A blush heated her cheeks. 

“So, lunch first, then ice cream?” she asked flustered.

“Sounds purr-fect.” Adrien smiled down at her. Grasping her hand in his, he turned to walk out the door. 

*****

Felix flopped face down on to his bed. A muffled noise that was a mix of a sigh and a slight sob escaped into his room from his pillow. His feet were throbbing and his legs were stiff. In all of his years, he had never worked a job that physically taxing. True, he did enjoy the work, but it was exhausting. It really would be worth his time to find a good pair of insoles for his shoes and maybe start to work out more. 

“Oh stop your whining,” Jiji chided while eating a slice of cheese. 

“You did nothing today. I did a lot. You can shove it,” Felix mumbled.

“Fine, I will,” Jiji replied shoving the rest of the cheese in his mouth. “You know you will never get your girl if you keep being mopey like that.” Jiji floated down and sat on the back of Felix’s head. 

Felix swatted at the kwami and groaned. “I am not trying to get anyone back. I am just happy to be her friend. We have been over this Ji.”

“We have, but you have been sighing all day,” Jiji replied, patting Felix’s head. “I mean, you got to do something.”

“No, I don’t. I think all I need to do is nap before I have patrol tonight with Pinyin.”

“Oh, you need some beauty rest?” Jiji teased.

“What? No. I just need sleep so shut up.” 

Jiji sighed and settled down next to Felix as he rolled over onto his back. With his arm resting across his face, Felix allowed his mind to wander. Work wasn’t the worst, but it was still awkward toward the end of the day. After the teens left, the bakery slowed down. Soon it was just him and Bridgette in the bakery. She seemed to keep her distance from him and was a bit jumpy around him for the rest of the day. 

_What could I have done to make her so jumpy? She was working upfront when I was talking to Marinette. And Adrien was the one to walk back so I am fairly certain that if anyone heard me it was him. And he already knows what I told Marinette more or less._

Felix sighed again. It wasn’t like he could really do much more about his relationship with her. It was just a small step kind of thing; each day would just have to be a bit better than the last. He really had so much on his plate right now that he knew that worrying about how to possibly make amends with Bridgette and hope that they could one day become close again should be at the bottom of his list. He had his brother to worry about. He had patrol duties to fit into his schedule. And a curse that always weighed heavily on his mind.

“So let me make sure I get the facts straight here Jiji. To break the curse, I would normally need a kiss from Pinyin. The catch was that she had to not know why I need that kiss. It had to be done out of unknowing love right?” Felix asked sitting up, disrupting the tiny napping cat god. 

“So much for beauty sleep,” the kwami grumbled. “Yes, that is all I know so far.”

“So then how would this work with both of us being cursed?”

“I don’t know,” Jiji shrugged, rolling over to attempt to go back to sleep. “Just try to do things the way they usually go and we can go from there.”

“So you mean, I need her to fall in love with me?” Felix exclaimed wildly waving his hands around. “Jiji, I don’t know that that will work. I severely doubt the possibility that Pinyin could possibly come to love me in any kind of curse breaking way in a timely fashion. Not to say that I don’t think she could not maybe love me someday if she really wanted, but love takes time. It has to be cultivated with care. You have to get to know the other person, know who they truly are. How can either of us do that if we are constantly putting on a persona of who the public thinks we are?”

Jiji let out a loud sigh, rolling his eyes, “I think you are putting too much thought into this.” 

Felix wrinkled his nose at the kwami. “Oh, and what do you know?” his voice slowly rising with each word. “You are a part of the kwami of destruction. How could you know much about love, a feeling that is about creation?”

Jiji scowled, his face distorted by a wave of rising anger. “Don’t yell at me boy! You of all people should know that love is just as much formed from destruction as it is of creation.” Felix stared at his little floating companion, too dumbfounded to respond. The kwami floated over pointing his little arm at Felix’s face. “You of all people should know how _destructive_ love can be Felix Agreste. _You_ who still clings to a silly pink flower because it hurts too much to let go and move on with your life. _You_ who watched your father from afar fall apart because of how he loved your mother. _You_ who left a gaping love sized hole in your brother’s life.” His small arm tapped on Felix’s nose, articulating every word. “Don’t you lecture me on Love human.”

Tears threatened to spill over Felix’s eyes onto his cheeks. Jiji suddenly stopped as if just realizing a line had been crossed. He flew across the room and sat on the desk with his back turned with one final huff. Felix slowly sat up. A shaking hand covered his mouth. He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of the tears. 

“You’re right,” Felix hoarsely whispered, “completely right. I am too scared. I was too scared to see my father. I was too scared to go back to that house, to go back to where Mother wouldn’t ever be again.” He looked up at Jiji, whose back was still turned. “And I am too scared to move on. I am afraid that being with her is the happiest I can ever be. She was the only person to bother with tearing down my walls. Not even my parents tried to do that.”

Jiji slowly turned around, “I thought you were close to your mom though.”

“I was, but even she didn’t try to get to know who I was past the Agreste image after I turned 13.” Felix looked down at his hands, nervously picking at each finger. “Once I was 13, Father took a larger role in my life. Not in spending time with me, but by scheduling things; making me learn various things that would prepare me to take over the Agreste brand. She just stopped getting to know who I was and what I liked.” He closed his eyes, letting the painful memories just flow. “It was always about how I could further the family image. They never needed to know what I was like, or what I liked, just that I could do what was required. Then she started to get sick.” Small paws pressed against Felix’s hands, stopping their fidgeting. Felix opened his eyes slowly, “I’m sorry Jiji, I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“It’s okay kid. I shouldn’t have crossed a line.” Jiji flew up and hugged his cheek. “I’m sorry your mom wasn’t all that and a bag of chips.” Jiji flew down to sit on Felix’s hands. “Maybe try baby steps. Cause I know it is hard, but these curses are always rooted in love. And Love is how you always break them.”

Felix reached up to wipe away the tears, “So I will probably have to find some other sneaky love solution with Pinyin then. I suppose I could eventually love her then.” He looked down at Jiji with a sad smile on his face. “She is really pretty. And she seems to think I’m cool. Which is nice.” 

“See, she isn’t so bad right?”

“I never said she was. I just don’t think she can come to like me that fast.” Felix shrugged. “I have only met one person in my life who falls fast and hard and I am fairly certain she isn’t Pinyin.”

“Oh? And who is that?” Jiji asked, an amused tone hinting at the slight chuckle he was holding back.

“Bridgette obviously. She is a baker by trade so she doesn’t have time to swing around the city saving people and stuff. She would be exhausted. I know I am,” Felix sighed. “Plus if she was Pinyin, she might have had more of a reaction to my bruised back. Pinyin was there when I got said bruise.”

Jiji nodded along electing to not say anything. If this curse was to break so he could be whole with Plagg again, he would have to just be silent at times like this. It would test his patience sure, but in the end, it would be worth it. 

“Besides all that, I am cursed with _bad luck_ Jiji,” Felix said, flopping backward onto his bed. “Pinyin being Bridgette would be good luck, wouldn’t it? I already love her so half the battle would be done.” 

“I suppose. Curses are complicated and difficult to explain, let alone navigate well,” Jiji mumbled, curling up on Felix’s chest. “Let’s nap now. We can talk more later.”

“Hmmm…” Felix hummed, as he drifted off to sleep

 _Felix was sitting in a large plush chair. Light streamed into the sitting room of his childhood home. A heavy sigh and warmth on his chest prompted him to look down. A small dark-haired child sat cuddled up on his lap. He shifted slightly in his chair still staring down at the child. They lifted their head and looked up at him with his large green eyes. He sat unblinking for a moment, but only for a moment. Something stirred inside him as he realized who it was._ _  
_ _“Papa, I was sleeping,” the child sleepily complained, tears starting to form at the corners of their eyes._

_“Oh, I am sorry mon petit. Go back to sleep, Papa will not move,” he found himself saying. The child’s face looked so familiar to him._

_“Honey, have you seen-” a familiar voice rang out. The voice belonged to a woman, silhouetted by the light from the window. As she walked closer, Felix could make out just barely who she was. A mask covered part of her face, and her hair was back in pigtails. Pinyin. “I have been looking all over for our little one. I didn’t realize they were in here with you darling.”_

_Pinyin crouched down next to him. She reached out and picked up the child, taking their precious form from him._

_“W-wait, you don’t have to do that,” Felix frantically stuttered out. He knew he had to get his child back._

_“Of course I do Chaton. You chose her, remember?” Pinyin tilted her head away toward the door where Bridgette stood with a soft smile on her face. The child twisted to reach out to Felix, tears running down their cheeks._

_“Papa, no! You promised!” the child screamed._

_“Hush little one,” Pinyin cooed, bouncing the child in her arms._

_Bridgette walked up standing next to Pinyin. “Felix, you have to choose. One of us, or you sit there forever.”_

_How could he choose? The child still sniffling tore his heart in two. He knew he would have to choose the child. The precious little one that was crying for him. “I have to choose Pinyin then, for the child needs me!” Felix exclaimed. He attempted to stand up. Only, his legs would not move. Suddenly, there was a large swath of fabric covering his torso, tying him to the chair._

_Bridgette looked down on him, suddenly much taller. “You mean to say you choose her over us?”_

_Felix looked from Pinyin to Bridgette. She was now holding the child. Who snuggled down into her chest. Of course, it would be Bridgette’s, they looked so much alike._

_“No, wait-” Felix started only to be cut off by a sudden hand from behind covering his mouth._

_“Wrong choice,” his father hissed in his ear. Felix felt the blood drain from his face. His father walked around to stand in front of him, as both women shook their heads and walked away. “You know, you always were a disappointment.”_

_Felix tried to call out to the two women but found that even though his father stood in front of him, he could still not speak. Closing his eyes, a single tear slipped down Felix’s face. After a deep breath, Felix opened his eyes again. But instead of Gabriel, there was now Hawkmoth._

_“Oh Felix, if only your mother hadn’t ruined you so,” Hawkmoth said, holding his cane in both hands. “ Lucky for us, I can fix you.” Hawkmoth swung his cane back. Felix watched in slow motion as the cane came swinging for him. Unable to move, unable to speak, all he could do was brace for the inevitable impact._

Felix jolted awake. Frantically grasping for his phone, he quickly turned it on to check the time. “Shit!” He was late. He quickly got up and started to frantically look around his room. “Where are my shoes? Jiji, why didn’t you wake me up?”

“You needed the sleep,” Jiji yawned. “Also, you don’t need shoes. Magic clothes remember?”

Felix stopped mid-movement and blinked a few times silently. “Oh yeah! Jiji! Transform me!”

The transformation flowed over him, a cooling feeling washed over his body as it was covered in black leather. His body felt stronger, his senses felt keener. As he opened his eyes he could see a spectrum he never normally could. He ran into the living area and grabbed the Grimoire. 

Felix ran across the rooftops, book close into his chest. He knew he was late, about 45 minutes so, but hopefully, Pinyin was still there. 

*****

Pinyin paced the warehouse. She knew that Hei Mao was late, but she didn’t think he had forgotten about their meeting. He had even mentioned it earlier when they had messaged each other to confirm their meeting spot at the warehouse. So where was he? 

She started pacing the roof of the warehouse. They were supposed to meet up almost an hour ago. Sighing, she sat down next to the hatch. She closed her eyes and let herself enjoy the slight breeze, letting her mind wander. How could she go about the new development with Felix? Did she want to do anything? While it was true that she loved him at one point, she wasn’t sure if she still loved him now. 

Especially if she let herself think more about her budding feelings for her newfound partner. She may have only seen Hei Mao a few times, but she could not deny how deeply she was attracted to him. Even now sitting there with her eyes closed she could vividly imagine him there next to her. The heat of another person; the smell of crushed tobacco, old parchment, and leather. A smile formed as she inhaled deeply; that intoxicating scent almost too real.

“Now, tell me Red, what could possibly be making you smile like that?”

Pinyin’s eyes flew open, a deep blush spreading across her face as she looked up to see her partner sitting just across from her. 

“Sorry I was late,” Hei Mao continued, reaching up to scratch the back of his head, “my kwami turned my alarm on my phone off and so my nap went a little long.”

She blinked twice, letting her brain catch up with what he said. “Oh, yeah, it is all good. I was worried we had missed each other or something.”

The two hopped straight into decoding the grimoire. Not only did they need it for any intel against hawkmoth, but they also needed any info on their curses too. They bantered back and forth, cross-referencing notes and having deeper conversations about the possible meanings behind various spells and lore. 

Eventually, they both fell into silence, pouring over their respective notes. While looking over her observations on the ways that the miraculous were formed, Pinyin stopped to let herself take in her surroundings. While they had started sitting across from each other, her and Hei Mao now sat shoulder to shoulder. He was hunched over his journal, furiously writing notes. With each small scratch of his pencil, Pinyin found herself wondering just what he could be thinking. As he sat up, he turned his head toward her.

There was something different about Hei Mao this time. There was a sort of familiar sadness in his eyes this time. Something deeper, something more than just the familiar green that she found herself feeling at home in. It pulled her in, causing a deep longing in her heart, and butterflies in her stomach. They both sat in silence, taking in all of each other. As unexpected raindrops started to fall, Hei Mao reached out, startling Pinyin as his fingers made contact with her face.

“We should go inside,” he gently swept a stray hair off to meet the rest of her bangs, “it would be a shame if the rain ruined this book.”

“Ah, yeah,” she chuckled to herself, “the book.”

“Also, it would be a shame if you got sick Red. I don’t think my life would be the same if I hadn’t met you.” Pinyin could feel her heart beat faster in her chest. He reached his hand back up to cup her cheek, and she leaned into it. He leaned forward, resting his forehead on hers. “You have something magnetic about you Red, you know that?” Pinyin could feel the light brush of his lips on her skin as he spoke.

“My kwami said it is because our curses are connected,” she exhaled. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. 

A low rumble of thunder could be heard as the rain began to come down harder. Hei mao pulled away quickly and cleared his throat. 

“I think we should call it a night,” he said, standing up. “If a storm is rolling in, we don't want to get caught in it. And I think we went over enough to report back to the group about.” He reached down for her hand.

To say she was disappointed would be an understatement. There was no denying that there was something there. He had to have felt that too. Nevertheless, she took his hand and let him help her up.

“Until next time then Chaton?” she asked, doing her best to not let him see her disappointment. 

“Until next time Red,” he replied, lifting her hand to his mouth, leaving a single delicate kiss. Scooping up the book and journal, he took off across the rooftop. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I got all the shift tenses. Once again, I will actively edit this. I do minimal editing before posting not cause I don't think it is important, but because I want to share the story with y'all. I know, not the smartest.


	8. The L-Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey, back at it again at Krispy Kreme! Sorry, this took longer than I wanted. I really wanted to get the right feeling across for this. Hope you all enjoy!

Felix dropped his transformation as soon as his feet hit the apartment floor.

“Hey bro,” Adrien said looking over his shoulder from his seat at the small table, “how did it go?”

Felix walked right past his brother, flopped on the floor and grabbed a pillow. He shoved it into his face before letting out a quick and muffled, “Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh hahahahaha why did I do that?!?!?!”

“Went that bad, huh?” Adrien replied, getting up from his seat.

“What?” Felix asked, pulling the pillow from his face.

“Trouble with the book?” Adrien asked. “Or… is it something else?” 

Felix looked over at his brother. Closing his eyes he sighed very deeply and dragged his hands over his face. 

“No, the book was fine. We got through it just fine.” Felix leaned forward and placed his head in his hands

“Then what is wrong?” Adrien sat down next to his brother. Jiji Snickered as he flew over and sat on Adrien’s lap, settling down by Plagg. “What can you not believe you did, Fe?” Adrien put his hand on Felix’s shoulder. 

“I ammas mifs er,” Felix mumbled through his hands. 

“Speak up grouchy pants, we can’t hear you,” Plagg teased.

“I almost kissed her, okay?” Felix replied, his face bright red. 

Adrien sat back shocked, “You...almost kissed Pinyin?”

“Yeeesss” Felix whined back.

“But, I thought you loved Bridgette.”

“I DO! That is why I don’t understand this!”

Jiji started laughing loudly, causing everyone to look at him. “I told you Fe, that you are connected to her via the curse.”

“Yeah, just like Sugar cube and I are always connected, black cats will always feel a deep connection with their Ladybug,” Plagg chimed in. “I mean, it isn’t always a romantic connection, but it usually is. Sometimes it is a more platonic or familial love. But in your case, like Jiji said, the curse will bring you both together faster than normal.”

“Woah, wait Plagg, do you mean that the feelings we have for our Ladybugs are from the miraculous, not ourselves?” Adrien’s worry laced deep within his voice.

“Of course not Sunshine,” Plagg cooed, patting Adrien’s face, “Your feelings are your own, the miraculous just helps to magnify them. They make how you feel for each other develop faster and deeper than you would without the miraculous.”

Adrien let out a deep sigh, mumbling under his breath. “Well that’s good then, but anyway, back to Felix’s problem, why is this a problem then? Aren’t you supposed to get her to love you, and have a kiss from her to break your curse?”

“Well, yeah, I guess, but the kiss needs to be from love,” Felix replied.

“And if you were to kiss her tonight, it wouldn’t have been out of love?” Adrien asked, sounding very confused.

“No Adrien, not love,” Felix sighed back, shoving the pillow back onto his face with a huff.

“Well, I mean how would you know it isn’t love. You may love her and not realize it,” Adrien started rationalizing.

“It wasn’t love Adrien,” Felix repeated. 

“Then what was it? Why else would you want to kiss her?”

Felix pulled the pillow down to his waist, rolling his eyes. “I will give you a hint little brother. It isn’t love, but also starts with an L.”

“Loneliness?”

At Adrien’s reply, Plagg and Jiji began howling with laughter.

“The other L-word,” Felix sighed.

“Lesbians?” Adrien guessed.

“Lust Adrien! Lust is the other L-word,” Felix exclaimed exasperatedly. Both kwamis rolled in the air as laughter shook their bodies. 

Adrien’s hand flew to his mouth stifling his own laugh, “I know Fe, I just was messing with you.” After sitting for a second and composing himself, Adrien continued, “You know, there is nothing wrong with lust. It is just as important sometimes as love. That, of course, isn’t to say that if you never feel lust that something is wrong with you, cause you know, that is cool too. But feeling lust towards a woman you find physically attractive is okay.”

Felix flopped his head to the side so to better see his brother, “I know, I don’t need a lecture from you. But today has just been a confusing day. And I feel weird cause I think even with the physical attraction, that I am starting to like Pinyin as more than just my partner. Maybe just my very attractive friend with really nice legs.”

Adrien shrugged, “Legs are always a nice thing to be nice. I am partial to the calf half myself.”

Felix squinted at his brother, “ I don’t know how I feel about talking about this stuff with my teenage brother.”

“Who else are you going to talk about this with? Jiji?” Adrien stood up and made his way towards the kitchen. “Yeah he can help, but really sometimes you need someone who can relate a little more. Here, I will put the kettle on, let's have some tea and talk this over before you should go to bed, okay?”

Felix sat up and looked at his brother like there was an alien in his house. “When did you get so wise oh sage?”

Adrien laughed, “I don’t know about that, but at my appointment today, I realized that it is important to open up and talk with those close to you. Which I know goes against what Father always taught us, but obviously, he sucks for multiple reasons. And also, cause I am in a good mood.” Reaching into the cupboard, Adrien pulled down two mugs and started prepping them for tea. 

Shrugging, Felix made his way over to the table and began to clear some space. By the time he had finished with that, the kettle was whistling and Adrien was pouring the water for tea. Bringing them to the table, Adrien sat down before asking, “So Fe, what is going through your head right now?”

“Well, I...I just feel a bit confused I guess.” Felix stared down into his mug and gently swirled the tea inside. “When I am transformed, I know that I have to act as you would to an extent so that the public doesn’t realize that there are two of us, so part of my suaveness is that. But there is more than that. It is really similar to what I feel towards Bridgette but more physical,” Felix quickly looked up and waved his hands, “Not that there isn’t a physical attraction towards Bridgette, there is. It was just rooted in an emotional connection first. But with Pinyin, it is weird. It is like she is the other half I have been looking for.”

“That is the curse,” Plagg chimed in, “or at least partially. The longing to be whole with that person is initially stemmed from the curse. It helps to encourage breaking it. But this sounds like more than the curse.”

“I don’t know if that is comforting or not,” Felix commented. “But I get to just be a flirt and be silly when I am Chat. Which is fun, but I also feel a little bit like I am lying to Pinyin. I am not usually that confident or silly.”

“Is that why you didn’t kiss her then?” asked Adrien.

“No, not entirely at least,” Felix replied. “I didn’t kiss her because I feel slightly like it would be dishonest to kiss her in a moment like that when I can’t move on from my feelings for Bridgette.” 

“You know kid, not every kiss has to be full of life-ending passion,” Plagg retorted, lazily floating over to Felix’s face. “Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss. And sometimes it isn’t. You don’t always know till after. Why don’t you try it next time?”

“Okay, fine Plagg,” Felix rolled his eyes, “if there is a next time, which I highly doubt there will be, where I feel a deep need to kiss someone, and I feel like they might want to kiss me too, I will go for it,” Felix said, his voice dry and exasperated. “Happy?”

“Only on a full stomach.” 

*****

A deep blush spread across Bridgette’s face as she recalled the previous evening’s events. Had Hei Mao really almost kissed her? Was she just imagining that? No, it had to have been real. She had played the scene over and over in her head now so many times she could practically recall every raindrop and where it fell. It had kept her up most of the night, and fueled most of her energy that morning. 

“EEEE!!!!” she squealed, jumping up and down, “Kiki, he almost kissed me! How exciting is that!?”

“It is very exciting Bridgette! I am happy for you,” the little kwami chimed in between bites of cookie.

“I just, I knew he liked me, I knew he had to feel something too,” Bridgette sighed. 

“Morning Bri,” Marinette said, walking into the bakery’s kitchen. “How goes it this morning?”

“Oh, hey Mari, it is going well,” Bridgette replied smiling. “Since we are closed I just made some croissants for us and cookies for Tikki and Kiki. And after that, I have just been going over some business stuff. You know, planning the new location and such.”

“Sounds productive. I am off to school. If something happens akuma wise, I will take care of it today. But if I can’t make it out, I will text you.”

“Sounds good. I should be okay, I am pretty free till later when Felix comes over for more work training,” Bridgette replied.

Marinette smiled to herself as she shook her head. “And Felix absolutely _has to_ come over for work today right?”

Bridgette glared at her cousin. “I am not sure what game you think you are playing, but stop it. There is more than you realize between Felix and me and I wish you would respect we are just friends instead of teasing me constantly.”

Marinette shrugged, grabbing a croissant, “If you say so,” and walked out the door to school.

*****

The first day of any school year is always a momentous occasion. But this year was different. Marinette could feel fluttering in her stomach as she walked up to the school. There out front waiting for her was Adrien. He looked amazing in a pair of dark straight leg jeans, cuffed at the bottom, followed by a pair of leather boots, and topped with a not too tight maroon v-neck shirt. A pair of slick sunglasses topped off the look as he leaned against the wall, one leg bent so that his foot was flat to the wall, reading a book.

Marinette couldn’t help but think of how the shirt accented his muscles in a way that really did them justice. The sleeves hugging his biceps in just a way that simultaneously distracted her and reminded her of how he got them to be so lean. There stood her Chaton. Sporting his model-good looks in a way that was surely criminal. 

She couldn’t help but be a little self-conscious about her choice of a dusty pink tunic top and jeans. She had dressed it up with a belt and a matching hair tie pulling her hair back into a high ponytail. She looked down at her wrist, where the lucky charm Adrien had given her for her birthday all those years ago sat. She smiled as she felt her confidence come back. 

“Hey girl!” Alya’s voice rang out. 

Marinette looked back up and saw her best friend standing near the entrance, just a bit behind Adrien. She smiled at the brunette and waved at her. At that moment, Adrien looked up from his book. Closing it, he kicked himself away from the wall and walked over to her before Alya could head her way. Upon seeing him make a bee-line for her, Marinette couldn’t help but smile. 

“Hey Maribug,” Adrien said, leaning in to kiss each cheek, “good morning.”

“And good morning to you too,” Marinette giggled. 

“Um, excuse me sunshine, what was that?” Alya asked, walking up to the group.

“What, I was just greeting my dear friend Mari here, can’t I do that?” Adrien replied.

“You never greet me that way,” Nino complained, walking up behind everyone. “I thought I was special to you Bro.” he pouted, crossing his arms. 

Mari looked up at Adrien and smirked at him. Adrien nodded his head solemnly. 

“You’re right,” he said. Closing the gap between himself and Nino, Adrien grabbed his friend and kissed both cheeks. “Good morning my Bro.” he said, hitting his fist over his heart twice.

“Good morning my Bro,” Nino whispered, also hitting his chest twice in reply. 

Alya looked at the boys like they had gone insane while Marinette just laughed. The four friends walked into the school building and started to compare class schedules. 

They had literature and homeroom all together, which was more than they had had in the last few years. Ever since lycee, the four friends had rarely had a class together. It is true that when they had all chosen this school they thought they would spend more time together, but their intended universities made having classes together a bit of an obstacle. Homeroom was always together, causing Alya to declare more than once that Lady Luck must be on their side. 

As the four friends walked toward their lockers, they fell into a two by two formation; Nino and Alya, and slightly behind them, Marinette and Adrien. Mari found herself wondering more about her classical art and art history classes she would be taking than observing her surroundings. So much so that she didn’t realize that there was a hand within hers until they were at their lockers and suddenly it wasn’t there anymore.

As the bell rang out signaling the beginning of the school day, Adrien walked up next to her, leaning against her locker. 

“What on earth are you doing?” Marinette asked him.

“Waiting for my princess of course,” he replied. 

“You better cut that out before someone notices.”

“I dare them to,” Adrien declared, a mischievous smirk on his face as he lifted her hand to his mouth, leaving a delicate kiss on the back of her hand.

“Damn sunshine, laying down the moves there,” Alya interrupted. “I feel like we missed something here.” Nino rolled his eyes, tugging on Alya’s hand, dragging her away from the blushing couple. “You will explain this to me later Mari!” she exclaimed as she was dragged away. 

The blush still burning bright on Marinette’s face only subsided a little when Adrien held his hand out to her. “Mari, I know we haven’t talked this over, but I want the world to know how proud I am to take your hand in mine if you will let me.”

Marinette looked down at the extended hand, then back at her own. Closing her locker, she reached down for Adrien’s hand. “There is nothing I would like more.”

*****

School ended sooner than one would expect for the first day but still dragged on in many ways for Adrien. He only had two classes with Marinette on A days. Thankfully he had three with her on his B days, but that didn’t make up for the three classes he had to sit through with Lila. He didn’t understand why she still clung to him after all this time. Even after the humiliating exposure at a Gabriel party last summer where she had announced that they were engaged, only for he himself to very quickly dispel the notion, she still insisted that somehow they were secretly dating. He couldn’t understand her thinking at all. But, more than anything he felt sorry for her inability to grow beyond her habitual lying. 

Today, it was all about how they were going to go to the dance together. While Adrien had straight up told her no multiple times, and very publicly at that, he couldn’t get her to stop. At one point he told her that he had no intention of taking her with him to the dance, especially since he was going to be there with Marinette, and that just seemed to make everything worse. The constant headache that was dealing with Lila had set in as Adrien walked through the school courtyard to the meeting spot he had made with his friends. 

“Adrien Darling!” Lila yelled out to him, running toward him. Adrien took a deep breath and reminded himself that self-control was a virtue. 

“Lila, I have told you to stop calling me that. I am not your darling. I am not you anything. Not even your coworker at this point,” Adrien exasperatedly replied to the thorn in his side that seemed to only increase in volume. 

“But Adrien, now that your dad is gone, we don’t have to hide our feelings, our relationship,” Lila replied, talking more to those around them than to Adrien. 

“Look Lila, I honestly want nothing to do with you,” Adrien said, dragging his hand down his face. “I know this has been the case for a while now. And I have made this very clear to you in both private and public settings. There is no us. I would really rather not cause a scene, so if you could just drop it that would be great.”

“But Adri-honey, we talked about this. You don’t have to hide anymore. You don’t live with your dad anymore. We both know he was an awful sort of a man,” Lila pleaded, getting increasingly whiny. 

“What on Earth are you trying to accomplish here?” A cold and calculated voice that could only be Kagami, chimed in. Adrien turned around to see Chloe and Kagami standing together, Alya, Nino, and Marinette slightly behind them. All five arms crossed and glaring. 

“I have no idea what she could be trying to say here, do you ‘Gami?” Chloe replied to her girlfriend. “It isn’t like he has told her the same thing repeatedly and she just won’t listen.”

“Oh but darling, he has,” Kagami replied in a shocked voice that was dripping in sarcasm. 

“Oh, is that so?” Chloe looked up from her girlfriend, and looked Lila right in her eyes, “In that case, you would think she would know when to walk away with dignity here. But I suppose that just isn’t in her character now is it?”

A deep blush spread across Lila’s face as she sputtered for a comeback. Finally, after failing to find words, she just shrieked a high pitched wail, stomped her foot, and left in a huff.

“Thank you ladies,” Adrien said, “I honestly was ready to scream at her. She hasn’t shut up all day. I don’t know how she managed to get into advanced calculus with me when last year she was still in algebra, but somehow she is.” 

“Yeah, thanks Kagami, Chloe. We were getting ready to step in, just before you two handled it,” Alya chimed in. 

“Don’t mention it,” Chloe answered, a smile on her face. “After all, we work better as a team right?” A mischievous smirk spread across her face as she ran a hand through her hair and over a comb pinning back her hair. 

“I suppose we do,” Nino chuckled. “But in all honesty, I wouldn’t have expected you to join us on this one you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Chloe replied, looking down at her feet. “I still feel really bad about that. I know I shouldn’t have taken my repressed feelings and anger out on all of you, especially you Marinette, but I hope you all can forgive me one day.”

“One day at a time, Love,” Kagami gently reminded her, gliding her thumb over Chloe’s cheeks, and placing a firm yet delicate kiss on her forehead. 

The rest of the group smiled at the couple. While the scars Chloe left would not heal overnight, they all knew that she was trying. Adrien looked over at Marinette, a soft empathy in her eyes. 

“We get it, Chloe. Thanks for helping out Adrien,” Marinette softly chimed in. A soft smile passed between the two young women. An understanding of what once was and what could be left between them. 

“So, we all know how my summer was, how about you guys?” Adrien asked, hoping to change to a lighter subject.

As the teens talked about summer plans passed and adventures had, they all migrated towards the direction of the Dupain-Cheng patisserie. No one had to say anything, they just all knew from previous years that after school hours were spent doing homework and eating pastries. Even as of late, Chloe had been welcome. 

They sat and laughed in the empty seating area while Marinette heated up treats and Adrien made drinks. It was easy for everyone to fall into a homey sort of rhythm. Adrien smiled to himself as he thought of the way everyone got along now. It was easier to work as a team when everyone liked one another. It also made him happy to see Chloe more accepted into the group. He knew that she had been trying over the summer to make more amends with Nino and Marinette. He hadn’t expected Alya to be the first to accept her apology, but then again, this last summer had been full of many surprises. 

Eventually, everyone started to leave. First Kagami, off to fencing practice. Then Nino and Alya, off to a “date” they had arranged (Adrien knew they were really off to do a quick patrol since it was their patrol day), and finally Chloe left to go meet up with Luka at his university. 

Adrien walked into the back room, carrying dishes. Marinette was standing by the sink, hair up, humming softly to herself. He couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her. He could just picture her humming the same soft tune after dinner together in their own home. Their own place together. Where they would live. Would it have one room or two? Would they share a room? Would they share a _bed_? 

“Earth to Adrien,” Plagg chided, snapping Adrien out of his thoughts. A deep blush spread across his face. “What were you thinking there Sunshine?” Plagg snickered. 

“N-nothing important,” Adrien grumbled at his kwami.

Marinette looked over at him, Tikki sitting on her shoulder, cookie in hand. Both smiled at their counterpart. “So are you gonna stand there with those, or are you gonna bring the dishes over here for me to wash?” Marinette asked. 

Adrien smiled at her as he finished walking over to the sink. He placed the dirty dishes in the sink and stepped over to sanitize and dry the clean dishes. 

“So, are we gonna talk?” Marinette asked.

“About what?” Adrien replied, his heart quickening. He went over all the possible things that she could want to talk about right this moment. God, what if he did something wrong? Did he do something wrong? Was she upset about Lila? She knew he didn’t care for Lila right?

“I figured you would know,” Marinette finished rinsing the last dish, placing it in the adjoining sink for Adrien to sanitize.

“I don’t know. If I did something wrong, I am sorry,” Adrien mumbled, staring intensely at the dishes below.

Marinette’s hand gently covered his, “You did nothing wrong mon chaton.”

Adrien still looked down and tried to control his breathing. Counting down from 20, slowly in his head.

“Adrien, please look at me,” her soft voice rang out.

Adrien looked slowly up into the blue eyes staring at him. He opened his mouth multiple times to say something in reply, but every time came up with only silence. 

“Minou, I just want to know what we are,” Marinette gently caressed his cheek. “I want to know that we are on the same page. That when you said you wanted the world to know, you meant what I meant.”

Adrien leaned into her touch. He could only hum in contentment at her touch. He knew he was safe, but feeling her hand on his cheek only solidified and grounded him in that feeling. He took a deep breath, thinking over just how he wanted to word his reply.

“Mari, we have been dancing around each other for years now. When I said I want the world to know, I meant that I want the world to know how I feel about you. I want to be able to hold your hand when we go places. I want to hear the excited little noise you make when you take that first sip of coffee. I want to hold you close and I wa-”

Adrien was cut off by Marinette’s soft lips pressing against his. Shock ran through him as he first processed what was happening, but soon, slowly wrapped his arms around her. Holding her close he kissed her back with all he had. He kissed her with all the love he held for her, the love that had grown for her in these last four years. The love he felt not just for Ladybug, but for Marinette. 

He kissed her like life as he knew it would not go on until he had conveyed to her the importance of every small gesture she had shown him. Every gentle smile, every giggle at his jokes. Every time she rolled his eyes at his bad puns, he needed her to know it all. And when that kiss was over, he kissed her again, and again. The world could have been spinning and he wouldn’t have known because at that moment he was grounded; she was his rock. 

As they slowly parted, he rested his forehead on hers. Holding her close, he closed his eyes. He felt her warm breath and her lips lightly touch him as she whispered, “I love you, Adrien.”

And with those four words, he knew he was hers; and she was his. She was his Lady, his best friend, his Marinette. His sweet Marinette. 


	9. Cracks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is Just Bridgette and Felix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how when you get hurt and you have to clean a cut how it hurts but you know you have to hurt to heal? Yeah...yeah...  
> So anyway, here's Wonderwall.

Bridgette walked down the supermarket aisles humming a soft tune to herself, a slight skip in her step, and a soft smile on her face. Physically she was in the supermarket, but mentally, mentally she was back on that rooftop. Watching slowly as Hei Mao’s face got closer to hers. The way the raindrops clung to his half-closed eyelashes. The way a slight dusting of pink covered his cheeks, and his warm breath on her face. It was downright criminal that all that build-up and tension happened with no release, but that didn’t keep her from playing it over and over in her mind. 

“Okay Bri, what happened?” Felix asked, his voice pulling her back to the supermarket.

“What?” she replied.

“You have been humming and smiling as a box of pasta for the last few minutes now. I know you well enough to know something happened,” he responded.

A slight blush spread across her face. “I, uh, had a really good day yesterday,” Bridgette began to fidget slightly as she smiled.

“Okay. I get the feeling this isn’t just about work yesterday,” Felix said, grabbing the pasta from her and putting it in the basket he had been carrying.

“I mean, work was cool too.”

“Uh-huh, but not the reason for the good mood,” Felix lifted an eyebrow, skepticism heavily laced through his words. “Let’s head to the produce, I want to make the sauce from scratch. Then cheese, then back to the house.”

Bridgette smiled at him and nodded, turning to lead the way, “I didn’t realize you knew how to cook like that.”

“Well, I did have a good teacher,” Felix replied, a slight sparkle in his eye, igniting the memories she had of the two of them in his apartment kitchen, cooking together. “But you still didn’t answer my question,” Felix dryly stated. 

Bridgette turned and looked at him. She bit her lip and fidgeted with her hands a little. She thought a bit back to yesterday’s confession she overheard. She wasn’t sure if telling Felix the real reason she was in such a good mood was such a good idea. She didn’t want to hurt him after all, they were getting back on friendly terms. 

He took two steps forward, closing the gap between them, as a woman with a cart and two kids walked past them. He looked into her eyes for a moment before quietly stating, “You met someone,” then swiftly stepping back away from her once the woman with the cart had passed. 

Bridgette could see a slight light dim in his eyes. She felt a crack in her heart and a weight in her chest. “I mean, kind of. He is just a friend really, we are just…” Bridgette quickly looked down. “we’re in the same book club. We had met up yesterday after work. He had just sort of implied that he thought I was pretty and it was just a nice compliment is all.”

Why was she lying? She knew that he wasn’t just a friend. And it wasn’t even like it was a convincing lie either. She could see Felix not really buying it. Why did it hurt her so much to hurt him? Was having two people like her part of the whole curse thing? 

Felix looked down briefly at his shoes, before reaching his free hand up to the back of his neck. “Look, I am happy for you Bri, I really am,” He looked up at her and smiled. “And if he thinks you are pretty then he must have good taste.” He looked down at his watch. “The kids should be done with their after school study group thing you said they do every day here soon. We should get the rest of the ingredients and head back to the bakery.”

Bridgette’s heart ached as she watched Felix nod at her, and walk toward the produce aisle. She took a deep breath and followed him.

*****

Felix and Bridgette walked along the streets in silence. After the revelation at the grocery store, Felix kept beating himself up about having pressed the issue. He should have known she was bound to meet someone else. She was an amazing, beautiful, strong, talented woman. Anyone would be a fool to not see that. He looked over at Bridgette, a bittersweet smile covered her face. 

He needed her to know that he was okay with this. He knew this was that opportunity to let go. He should really let go. His mind flashed to the pink orchid and mug in his house. He knew what he had to do. It was going to hurt, but he needed to confront how he felt at some point, he knew that. 

As Bridgette opened the building’s side door, she stopped, causing Felix to run into her. 

“What the hell Bri?”

“Shhhhh,” she cut him off, a crazy look in her eye as she nodded her head to the small window from the foyer of the residential area to the back of the bakery. Felix looked over and saw Adrien and Marinette in an embrace, kissing. Dishes in the sink. A small smile spread on his face as he felt proud of his little brother for finally going for it, but also had a bright red blush at the deep feeling that he shouldn’t have seen that. Looking up again, he saw Bridgette snapping a quick picture on her phone.

“Bri, what are you doing?” he hissed.

“Getting proof of this moment. Ah, Auntie and Uncle Tom are going to be so happy,” she chuckled to herself.

Felix rolled his eyes, and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the door.

“Hey,” Bridgette pouted as they started up the stairs. 

The smell of the freshly baked loaf of bread hit them as they opened the door to the apartment. Walking into the kitchen, Felix set down the groceries and pulled out his phone. A new message was on his phone from Adrien from about an hour ago. 

**From: Adrien**

**Hey Fe, Listen to this song. Alya mentioned it today, I guess an American superhero she likes said they liked it. Anyway, reminded me of the conversation we had last night.**

Felix rolled his eyes at the text. Of course, Adrien would send him things like this. Although how he didn’t hear his phone go off when he got the message was odd. It was probably Jiji’s doing at this point. The kwami had no understanding of the importance of knowing when one’s phone goes off. He shook his head one last time before walking over to Bridgette. 

“Hey Bri, do you have headphones?”

“Uh, not sure, why, what’s up?” she replied. 

“Adrien sent me this song and I was going to listen to it,” Felix replied, scrolling down to the link to a Spotify playlist

“Oh, why don’t we both listen to it then?” she smiled at him. 

Felix shrugged, turned up the volume, and pressed play. Guitars played an intro before the singer came in with English lyrics. He looked over at Bri, not sure if she knew a lot of English at this point or not. He wasn’t sure if it was rude to ask or not, so he just got to work prepping the veggies and herbs to make the pasta sauce. 

_But I was late for this, late for that, late for the love of my life. And when I die alone, when I die alone, when I die I’ll be on time._

Felix felt tears build up behind his eyes. Between this song and the earlier realization that Bridgette had really truly moved on, the universe seemed focused on making sure he never forgot that curse. God bad luck was really veering its ugly head today. He was thankful that he was chopping onions at that moment because he felt a hand on his shoulder. Felix turned to see Bridgette looking at him, worry in her eyes.

“This song is sad isn’t it?” she asked him.

“What?” he replied.

“I don’t understand all of it, but I know enough English to know this song is sad. Fe, are you okay?”

Felix brought up the sleeve of his free hand, wiping the tears from his eyes, “yeah, I am okay, it is just these onions is all.” He smiled at her, with his most convincing smile. 

“I know you well enough to know that you are lying. But if you don’t want to talk about it, that is okay. You have been through a lot Fe, it is okay to cry if you need to.”

Felix wanted nothing more than to crumple in her arms and let himself cry. But he knew if he did that he would never be able to let her go. He just exhaled and leaned his forehead against hers. 

“Thank you Bri,” he sighed, “but if I let myself go now, I am afraid I won’t ever be able to pick up the pieces.”

Felix closed his eyes, letting the small trickle of tears fall down. He felt a gentle hand cup his face, thumb wiping the tears away. He was unsure how long they stood like that. The playlist had moved on to the next song. 

“You know, it is okay to let yourself fall apart sometimes,” Bridgette said. Felix could feel her warm breath with each word. 

“I can’t,” he whispered back.

“You can, it is okay. It doesn’t make you less strong.” Felix felt her other hand pet the back of his head

“No, it isn’t my turn yet,” he managed to say, voice barely audible. 

They stood there silent for a moment before Bridgette pulled back, and cupped his face with both hands. 

“Adrien?” she asked.

Felix couldn’t bring himself to answer, settling on just a nod. 

The rattle of the door handle broke the stillness of the moment. Felix stepped back, cleared his throat, and went back to chopping the onions. As the door opened, the two teenagers walked inside, a smile on each face. 

“What’s up Bri, Felix?” Marinette’s voice chimed through the apartment. Felix saw Bridgette look at him out of the corner of his eye before turning toward the kids.

“Nothing much, just making dinner. Felix and I figured we should celebrate with a nice dinner since it is your last first day of school before university.” Bridgette replied. 

Felix could tell just by the tone in her voice that she had been smiling when she said that. He couldn’t help himself, but he felt even more love and care toward her. She didn’t have to cover for him right now, but she was. He could hear her leading the two teens into the living room, challenging them to an Ultra Mecha Strike match. He chuckled to himself as he thought of the way she just knew what people needed sometimes. Letting her go was going to be hard, but Felix knew it was something he needed to do. He needed to let her go and explore her possibilities. He knew he was two years too late to tell her exactly how he loved her, and that was more on him than her. 

*****

A week had passed since the incident at the supermarket, and Felix was feeling worse every day. He was constantly conflicted about how to start the conversation he wanted to have with Bri. And now, it was two days before the big dance, and he was about to spend most of it with her. Any other time and he might have rejoiced at the idea that they would both be there as chaperones of sorts. If this had been two years ago, he might have even felt giddy about what kind of outfit she might even be wearing and try to match it. But instead, he was dreading it. Things weren’t really much better for him girl wise on the superhero front either.

He had seen Pinyin exactly three times since the almost-kiss on the roof. And each time, she wouldn’t look him in the eye. She just looked at her feet, almost as if she felt guilty about something. He could not for the life of him figure out why that was the case either. At one point during the week, he had declared he was giving up. That he would just stay cursed since fate seemed to want him to stay that way. 

Adrien, on the other hand, was content and happy. He was doing well in school, Lila had not been bugging him, and Marinette was officially his girlfriend. Felix was happy for his brother, really he was, but sometimes he couldn’t help but feel a little bitter at the sticky sweetness that was Adrien and Marinette together. If anything it made him more mad at himself for allowing the crack in his heart to become so large. 

He would catch himself often thinking about how Bridgette had held him so gently that day, only to remember the man from her book club. And oh how his heart ached. It ached for the wishes of what could have been and what never will be. It ached for the warmth she gave him, it ached for the small smiles meant just for him. It ached for the kindness she showed him in a way that let him know it was just for him. The way they were before she left for China. But those days had passed. He knew that to survive now, he had to set a hard boundary for himself. He had to tell himself that memories however sweet, could not be dwelled upon. Not until he took those steps to let his heart heal, and to let her go. 

So after much talk with Jiji, and some minor self bribing of a new journal, here he was; standing at the bakery entrance on his day off. The pink orchard in one hand, the mug, and letter in the other. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not unlike the one from his first day of work. Upon exhaling, he let himself count down from ten, then knocked. 

He knew he could have keyed himself in, but didn’t want to startle Bridgette by his suddenly being there. If this was to go smoothly, he needed to hold himself to a higher standard of control. Get this conversation out of the way, get the journal from the book store, then go home and let himself have a good cry. That was the agenda, and he was going to stick to it. He heard some shuffling behind the door, followed by a big crash. Panic filled his chest. A crash that loud could not have been good. Shuffling his items, he quickly found his key and entered the building. 

Looking wildly around, he found Bridgette holding her head on the floor, under a pile of bowls, and a stool on its side. He quickly put the things aside and ran to her. As he got closer, he noticed there was blood starting to pool under her hand. 

“Bri, what happened?” he asked, trying to hide the panic in his voice as he grabbed a dish towel to help with the blood. 

“Hnn, Fe?” Bridgette looked up at him wincing at the movement, “I was reaching for some bowls up high, and then, I heard your knock, and then I was on the ground”

Felix looked over and saw the wooden bar stool she had been using was broken. He cleared the bowls away and made room to assess what the state of her injuries was. 

“What hurts Bri?” he asked his tone stern, but laced with worry.

“Uh, my head, and my ankle.” Bridgette just stared in wonder at her friend. She knew almost everything you could about Felix Agreste, but she had never seen him so worried or so serious. “Also my wrist. I tried to catch myself on the way down on the counter I think. I think that is also where I hit my head.” 

Felix nodded and came around with the towel. He gently moved her hand to check the depth of the wound. It was long but thankfully not deep. Pressing the towel to her head he let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Hold this tight, okay, you need to put pressure on your wound while I assess the others okay?” he instructed.

“I-” Bri started to protest. She looked up at his worried face and relented, “Okay, I will hold it.”

Felix shuffled on his knees over to her ankle, he reached out to her foot but stopped partway there.

“I have to take off your shoe to do this, is that okay?” Felix asked.

“Felix, this isn’t the 1800s, I know how first aid works. Do what you must,” she teased 

He shot her a quick glare before going on to check her ankle, then her wrist. Nodding to himself, he stood up and shuffled to the freezer. Once there he grabbed some bags of berries and more towels. 

“You need to go to the hospital,” he said, gently placing the frozen berries on her ankle.

“It isn’t broken though, I remember what a broken ankle feels like from when I was a kid,” she stared at him, shrugging both shoulders.

“Put pressure back on your head,” he snapped in a way that almost reminded him of his father. Guilt overtook him, and his face fell to something softer. “I am sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I am just worried. The cut on your head, it will need bandaging. Maybe not stitches, but it does need attention.”

“Oh, if that is all, I can butterfly bandage it,” Bridgette replied almost cheerfully.

“You what?” Felix blinked at her.

“You forget who I grew up with, I know how to administer most first aid. And I can do a butterfly bandage on myself. Easy,” Bridgett smirked. “Just go get me the first aid kit in the office. It is on top of the file cabinet.”

Felix nodded and went to go get the kit. When he got back, Bridgette shuffled herself over against the cabinet. 

“Here, I need you to hold this mirror,” she said, handing him a small mirror that was inside the kit.

He held the mirror as still as he could, while she wiped her forehead and carefully went about disinfecting the wound.

“I can do that,” he cut in.

“If you insist,” she replied. 

Felix set the mirror down and scooted closer. He grabbed the clean towel from the kit and started wiping the remaining blood away. He then disinfected the wound and got the bandage ready. As he was getting ready to put the bandage on, he felt Bridgette’s hand on his. He handed her the bandage and held the mirror back up. She finished bandaging herself up, and Felix was back next to her, cleaning away the remaining blood that had trailed its way down her face. 

“You don’t have to do that Fe,” she quietly said to him. 

“Yes I do,” he whispered back. Tears began to run down his cheeks. “Jesus Bri, you shouldn’t have used an old stool. You yourself told me we have the metal ladders for this.”

“I know, but it wasn’t in this room,” she mumbled. 

“I don’t care about that,” He gently cupped her face, turning it towards him, “I care about you goddamn it, and I need you to take care of yourself.” 

Blinking away the tears, he fought against the very deep desire to kiss her. He took a deep breath and scooted back. “You can’t walk on that ankle. You will need a brace for it. Do you have one?” he asked her. 

“Um, yes, but it is upstairs,” she replied, a slight blush on her face.

Felix switched to a crouching position and leaned his head closer to Bridgette. 

“Here, put your arms around me, I will carry you upstairs,” he dryly stated. 

“You can’t do that up to the 3rd floor,” she stated matter of fact.

Felix scowled at her and picked her up anyway. A small yelp of surprise escaped Bri as he did. He was in no mood to joke about how in or out of shape he was. Since the curse had been placed, he had actually been building muscle rather quickly. So carrying her up the stairs was actually quite easy for him. Once up at the apartment, he set her on the couch and went about getting more ice, the brace, and some medicine for her. 

“Here, you lost a lot of blood,” he handed her a glass of water. “You rest, I will go clean up.”

With that, he stood up and left the apartment before she could protest. 

*****

Bridgette starred as the door shut behind Felix. It wasn’t long before her kwami flew out and scowled at her.

“Bridgette, I was so worried. You need to be more careful.”

“I know Kiki,” Bridgette looked down, “I really am sorry.”

“You are lucky Felix was there. Otherwise, who knows how this would have turned out,” Kiki sighed flying over to hug Bridgette’s face. 

“I really am,” she replied.” Hey speaking of, why do you think he was here. I mean, it is his day off.”

Kiki glanced around the room thoughtfully before answering, “I am not sure honestly, but you should ask him when he comes back.”

“He didn’t say he was coming back though,” Bridgette protested.

Kiki just smirked at her, shaking her head, “people don’t confess how much they care about you when you are hurt, then carry you princess style up the stairs just to not come back.”

Bridgette opened her mouth and then stopped to think. She had known Felix for almost 5 years now, and she had rarely seen him that serious. But there was more than that, there was a genuine worry. Felix’s words echoed in her head, _I care about you goddamn it_. She let her mind wander about the possibilities of what it could mean. She couldn’t help but feel that this was more than just the curse. The curse would be a surface-level love, no this was something more. There was a panic in his voice that meant more. The apartment door shut, and Felix walked into the sitting area. He had a gift bag, and a flower in his hands. 

“Did you just go out and get those for me?” Bridgette asked in a teasing tone. 

“Bri, I need to say some stuff. I know that it is a little selfish, but it is what I came over to do,” Felix stated.

“Okay, go for it Fe. You can tell me anything, and I feel like I owe you a moment of selfishness here after your help,” she smiled up at him. He placed the flower, a beautiful pink orchid on the coffee table near the glass of water he had got for her. 

“You didn’t drink your water,” he grumbled. 

“Well, hand it to me and I will while you talk.”

He handed her the glass and situated himself on the floor next to her. She watched him close his eyes and take a deep breath. She could see his lips moving, indicating he was counting down, even if quietly. She sipped her water impatient hoping that whatever this was, it would all be okay afterward. Felix opened his eyes and stared straight into hers.

“Please just listen for now, and let me finish, and once I am done, you can have your say, okay?” he asked her, a desperateness in his voice.

“Okay,” she replied, slightly confused. 

“Bridgette Cheng, I need you to know that I wholeheartedly love you. And I have for years now. I know that I stopped talking to you before you left for China, but that was because I was under the impression that you didn’t feel the same way and I didn’t know how to start talking to you,” Felix stated, each word slowly building speed. “And I just didn’t know what to say, or how to get a hold of you, and then I saw you in that cafe and I remembered how much I love you, and then I got this job working with you, and I just can’t help it, I keep loving you more every day. And I know you have this other book club guy who thinks you are cute, and I don’t want you to feel obligated to do anything, or say anything, I just needed you to know so I could move on.”

Bridgette stared at Felix’s panicked face, stunned silent. She felt an array of emotions, from sadness to joy, to anger. 

“You stopped talking to me altogether before I left from China because you _didn’t know how to start talking to me?_ ” she managed to finally say.

“Um… yes,” he replied.

Bridgette took three deep breaths before continuing. “You broke my heart, shattered it, into a thousand tiny pieces, because _YOU DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO START TALKING TO ME?_ ” 

Felix stared blankly at her, “yes,” he whispered.

“Felix, I appreciate that you were here to help me, but I need you to leave right now before I scream at you,” Bridgette said through her teeth. 

Instead of putting up any kind of fight, Felix just nodded and stood up. 

“There is a letter in the bag, it explains it a bit better,” he mumbled as he walked away. 

It wasn’t until she heard the door shut that she let herself scream into the couch cushion. Then once the silence had settled, she let herself cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, so yeah. That is that. Please know it hurts me to hurt Felix, I love him. Also, I am a sad soul who listens to like hipster sad music exclusively. so yeah, that song felt very Felix. Please know that there is fluff planned soon, but there is gonna be some more angsty sad stuff too. I will warn you, don't worry.


	10. Love and Limbo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry early Christmas! Also Happy holidays for all who don't celebrate Christmas!  
> So I guess I didn't get the memo about how there should be fluff after angst, so there is more angst instead. This is kind of sad. Um, kind of a death warning I think???? Yeah. I wanted to get this out though cause otherwise it will sit forever and not get published. Once again, this is without a beta, so yeah. :) Hope you enjoy! I will try to get the next chapter out before two months pass, but let's be real, I am awful at posting in a timely fashion.

Bridgette wasn’t sure how long she had been crying, but her head now hurt more than before. She could feel her eyes puff as snot ran down her face. She couldn’t believe that Felix would be so stupid… but she also could. She looked over at the bag sitting on the table near her. Kiki sat on the couch silent and just watched as she reached for the bag. Kiki knew her holder was hurting in so many ways but could do nothing to help her.

Bridgette pulled out the dust pink mug and an envelope. The sight of the mug caused a few more tears to fall.

_“Bri, what are you doing?” Felix asked._

_“I am looking for your dishes silly,” she replied. “We just spent all this time making your first homecooked meal, we have to have something to eat on.”_

_“Uh, I..” Felix started. She looked over at him. He was sheepishly looking at the floor and rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t have dishes really. I have been just eating out. I only have the pots and pans cause you insisted on coming over today…” he mumbled, getting quieter with each word._

_Bridgette felt a deep warmth in her chest at his honesty. He really had no idea how to live on his own. She smiled at him, forcing a small giggle down, so as to not embarrass him even more._

_“Well, it is a good thing there is a store just down the street,” she smirked, “come on, let’s go.”_

_They walked down the street together, dangerously close. She could feel the warmth of his hand brush against hers in the chill October air. They walked through the store and Bridgette helped him find what basics he needed. As Felix walked up toward the register to pay, Bridgette stopped. There on the sale stand was a dark blue mug with a cream letter F. It was perfect. She bought it and knew he would love it._

_Once back at the apartment she presented him with the mug._

_“Bri, I could have bought this,” he protested._

_“Yes, but then it wouldn’t have been a gift.”_

_“Well, thank you. But still, I feel bad, if I had thought about this we could have eaten right way. Plus dinner is cold now,” Felix sulked._

_“You can make it up to me by finding me a matching mug someday, how about that?” she smiled at him. “It was the last one and in the sale section, so it might be a slight challenge.” Bridgette crossed her arms, trying to be as snooty as she could muster. She knew she wasn’t very convincing since Felix just smirked at her._

_“I thought only couples got matching mugs though,” Felix dryly said._

_“Well, maybe they could also be for friends?” she sheepishly questioned. She knew he would object like this. But there were only so many ways she could tell him how she felt at this point. She looked at her shoes, trying to calm her nerves. They always acted up when she tried to tell him how she felt._

_She felt Felix’s hand slowly brush against her face as he swept her hair back from her face and tucked it behind her ear, a gentle smile on his face and something warm in his eyes. “Yeah, maybe.”_

She rotated the mug in her hand. It looked just like the one she had bought him. The same design, the same cream-colored letter. Just this one was pink, her favorite color, and had a B on it. She took a few deep breaths to still herself, and attempt to stop the tears again as she opened the letter. 

There in the envelope were two letters. One was dated rather recently, but the other was old, the page discolored and the ink dulled with age. She set the older one down and read the more recent of the two letters. 

> _Bridgette,_
> 
> _I am writing to try and explain to you what I feel. I hope you will not find this letter distasteful given our past and our current circumstances. But I feel I can’t keep this inside any longer. I don’t know how to go about this delicately. As you know, my family wasn’t big on emotions. So, Bridgette, I love you. I always have. And I suspect that a part of me always will. I have enclosed my letter explaining how much and how deeply I loved you two years ago. I am sure you will notice it is much shorter than this one as well. That was because I assumed we were on the same emotional page._
> 
> _You may be wondering why I never delivered that letter. It is that I was ready to tell you, but then I overheard you talking with one of our friends stating that I was only a friend and would only ever be a friend. In your mind, it seemed to me you did not feel the same way I did. Then a week later, you stated you were going to go study in China. I was heartbroken. I know that doesn’t excuse my never emailing you. But when I asked our various mutual friends, they always brushed it off. And eventually, I just stopped asking. I learned how to live without you. Something I never thought I would have to do._
> 
> _But seeing you in that coffee shop the other day, by some twist of fate, reminded me of the gaping hole in my life that formed when you left. I know you were only gone two years, but it felt like an eternity and also no time at all. After all, I think Whitman said it best when he wrote, “Do I contradict myself?/ Very Well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)” (Did you think I would write you a letter without at least one literary reference? Come on Bri, you know me better than that)._
> 
> _But I mean it. In those multitudes lies the ability to complexly feel and love and yearn and hurt. And Bri, working with you at the bakery has reminded me how much I needed your smile. How your laugh seems to heal every little hurt. And I love you more each day I am there._
> 
> _I am sorry it took me so long to say this. And I am sorry I am two years too late. I don’t expect you to respond, or to even feel the same way. You are your own person and owe me nothing. Not even your friendship. For that, I put the ball in your court. I will continue to work with the bakery for the next little while until the big event is done for the kids. But after that, I will be going to work at a small publishing company and book store. Lamont, Adrien’s former bodyguard, is related to the owner and they said given my credentials, I would be a good fit there. So please don’t feel like you have to keep me on staff because of mine and Adrien’s situation._
> 
> _You know my number if you want to say anything if not, that is okay too._
> 
> _Forever yours,_
> 
> _Felix_

Bridgette set the letter down, she felt the tears flowing again. She might as well give up on trying to stop them. It didn’t seem like it was going to work anyway. 

She looked at the old letter. It was dated just a few weeks before she had decided to go to China.

> _Bri, I could wax poetic for you, but I will leave you with this poem instead:_
> 
> _"I loved you first: but afterwards your love" by Christina Rossetti._
> 
> _Poca favilla gran fiamma seconda. – Dante_   
>    
>  _Ogni altra cosa, ogni pensier va fore,_   
>  _E sol ivi con voi rimansi amore. – Petrarca_
> 
> _I loved you first: but afterwards your love_   
>  _Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song_   
>  _As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove._   
>  _Which owes the other most? my love was long,_   
>  _And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong;_   
>  _I loved and guessed at you, you construed me_   
>  _And loved me for what might or might not be –_   
>  _Nay, weights and measures do us both a wrong._   
>  _For verily love knows not ‘mine’ or ‘thine;’_   
>  _With separate ‘I’ and ‘thou’ free love has done,_   
>  _For one is both and both are one in love:_   
>  _Rich love knows nought of ‘thine that is not mine;’_   
>  _Both have the strength and both the length thereof,_   
>  _Both of us, of the love which makes us one._

On the bottom of the page scrawled in Felix’s messy script was: 

> _I love you. Move-in with me?_

Bridgette felt Kiki’s gently touch her hand as she set the letter down. 

“What do I do now Kiki? This isn’t the curse like I thought,” she whispered at the kwami.

“I don’t know Bridgette,” the little bug replied, hugging Bri’s hand. “Here, blow your nose,” Kiki stated, passing her a tissue, “Marinette and Adrien will be here soon and will want to know how you ended up on the couch with a bandage on your head, an ice pack on your foot, and tears in your eyes.”

“You’re right Kiki. Let’s start with that then,” Bridgette smiled sweetly. 

As if on cue, the front door opened and the two teens walked in. The three of them locked eye contact, first at Bridgette, then at the small kwami in her lap. 

Bridgette sighed, this had been a long day, and going to be a longer evening.

"I can explain."

*****

Felix paced nervously around his apartment. Jiji had given up on trying to calm him down and sat contently in a sun patch eating a piece of cheese. Right as Jiji took a mental note to ask for more cheese, Felix made a loud, exasperated huff. He picked up his phone and started typing away. 

“Whatcha doing there Felix?” Jiji asked.

“I am texting Adrien. I know he is over with Marinette right now, and they should be getting to Bridgette here soon, and so I am going on a run,” he replied.

“Oh, very nice, exercise is good.”

“Yes, and even better on rooftops. Jiji, finish that cheese, and let’s go,” Felix declared.

He started bouncing in place, as the kwami groaned and finished the last bit of cheese.

“You know Fe, we could just take a nap, those are better than running anyway,” Jiji complained.

“No. No naps, only run.” Jiji rolled his eyes, then flew over to his holder. Felix nodded at the kwami then called out, “Jiji, transform me!”

Felix felt the tension in his shoulders start to loosen as the transformation finished. In no time he was out sprinting across the rooftops. 

The feeling of the air rushing past his face was exhilarating. Jumping from roof to roof, Felix couldn’t help but yell out with each leap. He ran with no particular destination in mind, just going simply where his feet took him. He finally ended up on top of Notre Dame. Felix sat, looking out across the city. He hadn’t realized how much time had passed in his run about town until he noticed how low the sun hung in the sky; gently caressing the skyline, teasing the sky with gentle pinks and purples. 

For the first time in several days now, Felix felt at peace. With each exhale he was able to let go of the little things that had been bugging him; let them leave with the setting sun. He closed his eyes and dropped the tension he had been holding in his shoulders. 

_You broke my heart, shattered it, into a thousand tiny pieces, because YOU DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO START TALKING TO ME?_

He grimaced at the memory of the well deserved verbal lashing he had received earlier.

“Yeah, I really messed that one up,” he mumbled to himself. “I wonder if she read the letter.”

Felix sighed loudly, and laid down on his back, placing an arm over his eyes. He had really messed up. He knew he was being selfish in telling Bridgette how he felt. But he also knew that he mentally and emotionally just couldn’t handle it being trapped inside himself anymore. And at the end of the day, he still cared for her. He would do just about anything in his power to make sure she was happy. To make sure she was safe. 

No sooner had he finished that thought, when a loud boom jolted him from his peaceful rest. Felix jumped up and looked out. There, not far away was a sentimonster. It was a large blue and green dinosaur looking thing, and on top, there was an akuma riding it. 

Taking a deep breath, Felix counted down. 5. His personal problems were nothing. 4. He was the hero Paris needed right now. 3. He was not Felix any more. 2. He was Hei Mao. 1. He was Chat Noir.

Springing into action, he vaulted his way to the akuma. The Akuma was a woman with bright yellow skin and green hair. She wore a god awful animal skin printed dress as if to look like a cave-man of sorts. Slung across her back was a large club, shaped like a head of cauliflower. As he got closer, he could hear the akuma speak loudly. 

“No more bread! No more carbs!” she yelled as the dinosaur she rode smashed her surroundings. A small man ran behind her, trying to plead with the akuma. 

“Geez, someone sounds hungry,” a voice called from beside him. Hei Mao looked over and saw Ladybug.

“Hey LB. Is Chat coming, or should I stay?” he asked.

“Nah, I have faith that you and I can do this,” she smiled at him. Hei Mao just nodded and turned back to the akuma. 

“I think if I can run down and distract it, we can get a good idea about what she wants, and maybe even where the amuk and the akuma are,” he stated.

“Sounds like a good plan,” she nodded before taking her yo-yo, “I will swing around back and see if I can get a good angle from behind her. Maybe that man down there can give us some info.”

The two heroes nodded at each other one last time before separating. Hei Mao landed on a rooftop near the akuma, and channeled his inner memes, before calling out.

“Hey, what do you have against bread? I mean really, destroying everything ‘cause of some carbs, don’t be such a Karen,” he yelled out, hoping he sounded enough like his little brother to convincingly pass for a 17-year-old. Although he knew even he wouldn’t be convinced by his performance, he hoped no one else would really notice.

“I AM KAREN NO LONGER! I AM Paleosaurus! And I will make everyone follow the Paleo diet! No longer will I be the only one suffering at parties! No more!” the akuma yelled at him, “With the help of my carbasaurous I will destroy every last carb in Paris! Then I will take yours and Ladybug’s miraculous!”

Hei Mao rolled his eyes and continued jumping around, trying to keep the akuma and sentimonster’s attention on him.

“Okay, first of all, Karen, that is just rude. Don’t make other people suffer for your own choices. Second, we don’t even know what paleolithic people ate!” Hei Mao retorted, dodging a swing from a comically large cauliflower club that Paleosaurus swung his way. “Third, I may not be an archeological expert, but I am pretty sure dinosaurs didn’t exist in the paleolithic age. Nor cauliflower for that matter.”

“Silence!” the akuma shrieked, “I don’t care for your lies! I will destroy all the bread! Starting with all the bakeries!” 

Upon hearing that, Hei Mao took in a quick survey of his surroundings. While running around the akuma, they had ended up next to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He couldn’t let this diet crazed akuma get near the building, not with Bridgette in there. He was sure that Adrien could take care of Marinette, but Bridgette couldn’t even walk right now, let alone evacuate in time. Then, as if reading his mind, Ladybug’s yo-yo curled around the akuma, yanking her off the dinosaur. 

“Slow down there lady. Last time a woman tried to take bread from the people of France it didn’t end well for her,” Ladybug yelled, “We don’t want any heads to _roll_ ”

Hei Mao could tell that Ladybug had spent the last 4 years partnered to his brother with that one. But looking up at the akuma that went flying, he could see a black fork twisted inside the akuma’s hair.

“LB, I think the akuma is in the fork! In her–” A tail came out of nowhere and threw Hei Mao into a building nearby. “Oh yeah,” he mumbled to himself, “there is a dinosaur.” clutching his stomach, he stood back up. Before he could get much further though, the dinosaur came charging at him. There was not a lot of time between when the dinosaur connected with Hei Mao and when he went flying into the building he had been flung into. As his vision blurred into focus, he realized he was laying in a very familiar lobby. 

Quickly standing up, Hei Mao got ready to pounce, but he wasn’t fast enough. The dino did one last tail swipe in one direction, and the akuma, who had apparently gotten away from LB, swung her club in the other, aiming to destroy the foundation of the building. He knew he wouldn’t have enough time to get them to stop, so he ran for the stairway next to him. The building shook as the ceiling started to fall in. 

Hei Mao dove for cover next to the large appliances by the stairway door. He extended his staff, hoping to help keep any rubble from falling on his head. Piece by piece, the floors from above started to fall down in front of him. He tried his best to stay standing, but it felt like something struck him in the gut, causing him to double over. 

“‑lix!” he knew something, or someone was talking next to him. “Felix!” a leather-gloved hand was touching his face. Finally looking up, he saw Chat Noir in front of him, tears were in his eyes. Before he could process anything, he was pulled into a hug. 

“Bridgette!” he suddenly exclaimed. He pushed away from his brother and looked around the rubble. There under a piece of roof, he could see the couch he had left her on. “No, no, no, no, no, no, no,” he repeated as he clawed away at the rubble. “Cataclysm!” Hei Mao called. But nothing happened. 

Both cat heroes sat there, in their little cubby of rubble staring at the hand that was supposed to be bubbling with darkness and destruction. But instead, there was nothing. Tears started to well up in his eyes, “Adrien, what is going on?”

“It's the curse,” a little voice squeaked. Both of them whipped their heads over to the area where the couch was. A little red and black kwami floated out, tears in her eyes. “She couldn’t call her transformation in time...

“Pinyin,” Hei Mao whispered. “Bridgette is Pinyin isn’t she?” 

The little kwami nodded. A hand landed on Hei Mao’s shoulder. He looked over at his younger brother. 

“Listen Fe, Chat has been away from Ladybug for too long. I am gonna get Bri out, but I need you to stay here with her. Ladybug’s miraculous cure should bring her back, it always does. But you need to keep her body safe. Can you do that?”

Silent, all he could do was nod. Chat nodded back before crawling over to the rubble. “Cataclysm.” As the piece that was covering the couch slowly disintegrated away, Felix, quickly grabbed Bridgette’s body and held her close to himself, carrying her to the relative safety of next to the fridge. Adrien dropped his transformation, and Plagg phased into the fridge to get a quick snack.

“Fe, I need you to look at me,” Adrien said, his hand on his brother’s face. 

“You shouldn’t call me that, wh-what if she hears you?” he choked out through tears.

Adrien looked down and closed his eyes. He lifted his head as he opened them again, “You’re right. Hei Mao, I need you to trust me that the miraculous cure will bring her back. I have been the one brought back countless times now. It will be okay. But I need you to stay here with her, okay?”

Hei Mao could only nod his head. 

“Right, you ready then Plagg?” Adrien called out.

“Yeah kid, let's fix this mess,” Plagg nodded.

Adrien called his transformation, and then standing before him was no longer his younger brother but the hero of Paris. 

“Wait, Chat, the fork!” Hei Mao called out before his brother could find his way out. “The fork is the akumatized object. And the dino was wearing a collar of some sort. The tag on it was black too.” 

Chat looked over and nodded before calling a cataclysm again and bursting out of the rubble. Upon his exit, the rubble shifted again, causing Hei Mao to hold Bridgette close to him, shielding her against the fridge. Tears kept falling down his face; he couldn’t stop the overwhelming sadness that kept washing over him. 

“You can drop your transformation, I think your kwami needs food. And we can explain more too,” the little red kwami told him.

“But my staff…” he sniffed.

“The fridge is holding the concrete up, I promise,” the little red kwami reassured him, patting his cheeks gently. 

Felix released his transformation and Jiji came flying out. He floated for a second, gathering his bearing before phasing through the fridge and grabbing a snack for himself. Felix hadn’t really noticed his kwami’s absence, he was gently pushing a hair away from Bridgette’s forehead, revealing the butterfly bandage she had applied earlier that day. 

A small laugh escaped him as he thought about how long that day had been. It started with her falling on that stupid wooden stool and now here they were. She was limp in his arms. With the absence of leather covering his hands, he could feel that she was still warm, and there was even a slight, ever so small breath escaping her. His eyes widened as he looked up.

The two kwamis were hovering at eye level. Tears started to flow down his face. “She’s alive. Oh god, she is alive,” He pulled her closer, allowing himself to cry as he held her. 

“She is, but just barely,” the red kwami explained. “If you are okay with it, I will explain a few things. You can keep holding her though. I am Kiki by the way.”

Felix just nodded, continuing to cry. 

“You couldn’t call on your cataclysm because I was keeping her alive with my own life force,” the little red kwami explained. “Your kwami and I are connected energy-wise. Normally this doesn’t matter much, but when one of you is seriously hurt, the other can a hard time regulating their power when the curses are connected like this. Jiji and I figured this out the other day when we felt our energies mesh and flow out the other day when you cut your hand doing the dishes here at the bakery.”

Felix shook his head, “So, our energies are connected so long as the curse is still intact? So, is she alive right now because I am?”

“Yes, and because Jiji is eating a lot right now,” Kiki explained. 

Felix looked over at Jiji. He seemed to be inhaling cheese and anything else he could get a hold of from the fridge. It all felt odd and surreal to Felix. Bridgette was slowly healing because the kwami was eating, so she wasn’t dead, but she was still unconscious. 

“If Jiji keeps eating, will she wake up?” Felix whispered, whether from fear of Bridgette hearing or from fear of the answer he wasn’t sure. 

“No,” Jiji replied. “She will stay like that in a magical coma of sorts until the curse is broken, or since this was caused by an akuma, the miraculous cure is cast.”

As if on cue, pink ladybugs swirled around them both. Bridgette was moved with the rest of the Dupain-Cheng living room back where it belonged on the floor above. Kiki was gone too. Without hesitation, Felix sprinted up the stairs, ladybugs still swirling around him. He refused to just blindly trust that everything was okay just because it was supposed to be. She needed to be awake, alert. He needed her to be. 

Without knocking, he opened the apartment front door and ran in. Bridgette was shifting to sit up. When her eyes met his, he couldn’t help himself. He burst into a fresh round of tears and ran to her. He sunk to the ground and just clung to her waist. He cried harder than he had in years, pressing his face into her stomach. He couldn’t believe that she was okay. The image of her body still and unresponsive seared into the backs of his eyelids. 

He lost his mother, he couldn’t lose Bridgette too. Not again. 

“Fe, what happened? Are you okay? And why are you here?” he heard her ask while running her hand through his hair, getting him to look up at her.

“Y-y-you were g-gone,” he managed to choke out between sobs. “The akuma hit th-th-the shop. And you-”

Felix was cut off by a kiss. He felt Bridgette’s hands cup his face and hold him close to her. 

He looked at her dazed as he pulled away. Before he could say a thing though, Marinette and Adrien came bursting through the door. They both came quickly to Bridgette’s side. Marinette cried while she fussed and fretted over her. Felix, still in a daze lightly stepped back, and allowed the two cousins the space they needed. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but eventually, he and Adrien were back in the apartment. 

It wasn’t until then that he had stopped and actually had a chance to breathe. He brought his hands up to his face, but something wasn’t right. Staring down at his hands, where his normally black ring sat, was a small silver band. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this, please comment below or give me a follow on tumblr. I would love to take time to write more. I have plans to write a lot more this next year so we will see how that goes. :) And it is silly I know, but the more comments I get on a chapter, the more motivated I am to write the next chapter. So yeah. haha!  
> Please check out my two one-shots I just did for the two secret santas I was in! They are cute and fluffy!  
> Thanks again!


	11. It's Just That It's Delicate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! Have this fluff. I wrote a lot of angst, and I promise that (un)fortunately more is coming. Because plot. But today, have this. Just cuties being cuties. Also, the title references a Damien Rice song.

Felix stared down at his hands. They began shaking as the ramifications of this new ring sank in. 

“Jiji! Where is Jiji?” he cried, standing up suddenly.

Adrien whipped around quickly, “Fe, what are you talking about?”  
Felix held his hand up. “Jiji, my ring is different! Where is he?”

Jiji, now a bit smaller, flew over to his handler. Plagg soon followed him.

“I am right here Felix. I am not gone yet,” the kwami reassured.

“Yet?” Felix choked out. He had gone through so much in the last 24 hours. Bridgette, oh sweet Bridgette. Bu Jiji, no, he can’t lose Jiji. The snarky little kwami had been there for him in so many ways in such a short span of time. How would he go on without Jiji? How could he continue with life now that he knew the high of running the rooftops? The comfort of a small constant companion to talk to. A friend to help you get through the nightmares, the guilt, the constant fears of inadequacy? How could he do all of this without him? True he had managed before he met the kwami, but now was different? How—

“Felix!” Adrien grabbed his brother and pulled him in a hug. Tears Felix didn’t even know he had were falling down his face, landing on his younger brother’s shirt. “Felix, it is okay. It will be okay.” 

Adrien just held his brother while the two kwamis nested in the brothers’ hair. And Felix just finally let himself let everything go and just cry. He cried for his hurting heart. He cried for his mother. He cried for who his father was. He cried for everything that Adrien and he had been through. He cried until his head hurt and he could cry no more. All the tears he had been holding all month finally just releasing. His head hurt, but his heart felt so much better. 

“I think I am ready to talk now,” Felix whispered, pulling back from his brother. 

“You don’t have to,” Adrien replied. “We can just sit and watch a movie, or whatever. We can call out some take out. And we can just stay in, make a blanket fort.”

“No, I think we should probably talk a bit,” Felix looked down briefly before looking back up with a small smile, “but that other stuff sounds good too.”

Adrien nodded at his brother. Felix watched as Adrien called out to their favorite local place and went about gathering blankets and pillows to make their blanket fort. He then went and grabbed the laptop and monitor for a movie night. Deciding that he should somehow contribute, Felix got up and made some tea. The weight of the conversation that he knew would be coming hung heavy on his shoulders. Felix’s life had gone from being grey and simple every day to being full of vibrant colors and personalities. He had gotten comfortable in his solitude. But now that he had a taste of how lively and loving his life could be, he couldn’t go back. 

Which brought him back to the problem at hand...or rather on hand. Jiji hadn’t left him while he made tea, still nestled in his hair. Felix knew that by the nature of trying to break the curse someday he would be without Jiji, but he didn’t expect it to come so quickly. 

Felix grabbed his mug of tea, and one for Adrien and walked over to the coffee table. He sat the cups down and sank into the couch letting out a long and exhausted sigh. 

“So, Fe, long day?” Adrien started.

“Heh,” Felix laughed, “you could certainly say that. It has been long and stressful and not at all like I had planned.”

“Want to talk about it?” Adrien asked. He looked at his brother with a small empathetic smile on his face. 

Felix smiled back and shook his head no. “No, I want to talk to Jiji and figure out what is going on. My ring is different. Why is it different?” He held his hand up for everyone in the room to see. 

“Well, that is both simple and kind of not,” Jiji replied. 

“It won’t hurt any less if you prolong this Jiji,” Plagg scolded. 

Jiji looked down at his literal other half, and back at his holder. The little kwami sighed one last time before flying down to sit in a place where he could look Felix in the eye. 

“To put it frankly Felix, your curse is broken,” Jiji started. Felix just nodded and stared, urging Jiji to continue with the silent plea from his eyes. “That being said, I will stay with you until either Bridgette’s curse, which isn’t broken, is also broken, or until you renounce me.”

Felix nodded softly, “okay. Is that it? My curse is broken, and you are here with me until I let you go to be whole again with Plagg?”

“More or less,” Plagg interjected. “Don’t get me wrong, this whole being two people while not is weird, but I can survive. I would advise not doing anything that could break Bridgette’s curse until we have defeated Hawkmoth. You two will be needed to catch Hawkmoth, I am sure.” 

“This is true,” Felix replied. “Having two Chat Noir’s will help in catching him. And I am not ready to say goodbye to Jiji yet. I have rather grown fond of your stinky company.” Felix said this while scratching his little kwami behind the ears. A gentle purr escaped the kwami, causing Felix to smile a genuine smile. 

There was a knock at the door, and the brothers both looked up. Adrien went to open the door, but where normally a delivery person would stand, was Lamont, holding their food. The former bodyguard smiled at the two Agreste boys. 

“Lamont, wha-” Felix started. 

“I invited him over,” Adrien explained. “He is all we have left of our family now, and I figured you could use a little extra comfort tonight.” 

Felix felt an overwhelming warmth at his brother’s thoughtfulness. He stood up and went to hug the family friend. Lamont simply responded by returning the hug. He then set the food down and pulled out a wheel of camembert for the kwamis. Once everything was set up, everyone got comfortable on the couch with their food. Jiji questioned if they should be out around Lamont, but Plagg vouched for his trustworthiness, swearing that he was not swayed by the bringing of cheese. 

Felix could feel the residual headache from crying behind his eyes. It had now dulled to a slight ache. But that was not what was on his mind. He could only think of how never again would he shut people out of his life. He sat with his small family and felt content. Letting their care and warmth help him through the evening while a movie played on in the background. A warmth he had not really known from anyone but Bridgette and his mother. But one he now knew more than ever, he had always needed. 

*****

Bridgette fixed up her hair for what had to be the fourth time. She had taken it in and out of various styles before Marinette had come into the bathroom and stopped her. Marinette said nothing and didn’t tease her at all for caring about how her hair looked for a high school dance that she was just chaperoning and manning the refreshment table for. Instead, Marinette delicately styled her cousin’s hair into a braided crown that circled her head.

“Done!” Marinette exclaimed, sliding in the final pin into Bridgette’s hair. 

“Okay, okay,” Bridgette waved her hands, shooing her cousin away. “My turn to pamper you. Sit and I will do your make-up” 

“Okay, but remember, I am wearing red tonight,” Marinette giggled. 

Bridgette welcomed the distraction. Her mind had not shut off since the akuma attack the other day. She had gone through a lot and barely remembered it. But more, she had kissed Felix. She knew that she had gotten hit enough to not wake up in the attack. She was actually fairly certain she had died. The last thought she remembered had been Felix and his stupid letters. Then next thing she knew she woke up on the couch surrounded by ladybugs. And then there was Felix, sweet stupid Felix. He came bursting in, crying and going on about how she had been gone, and she just kissed him. Maybe it was the letters, the mug, or the emotion of it all. But she kissed him. She had never kissed him before. 

And to make it all worse, she hadn’t seen him since she had kissed him. She hadn’t had the courage to text him, and she had still been resting with her foot up when he had been over for work with Marinette and Adrien. Marinette wouldn’t answer her questions of what was happening with him, or how he was acting. She would just say, “Oh Felix, his is...fine.” Which was of course worse than no answer at all! So here was her chance to see him, and set things straight. Something happened the day of the akuma attack. Her kwami wouldn’t give her all the details, but somehow Felix was there, and he knew what had happened to her. 

So, being able to just concentrate on making her beautiful cousin have amazing make-up and have a wonderful night with her boyfriend at the dance she had worked so hard to organize, was more than okay with her. She applied a smokey eye and made sure to add just the right amount of blush and highlight. She topped it all off with a dark red lip to match the red on the beautiful dress Marinette made just for the event. 

“And there we go” Bridgette pulled away the make-up brush and admired her work. “You look amazing Mari. You will knock Adrien’s socks off.” She couldn’t help but smile at the way her cousin blushed at her words. 

“Thanks, Bri,” Marinette giggled. “I am so excited for tonight! I really hope nothing bad happens. It would be nice to have a nice simple night of just being a teenager and not worrying about getting attacked by something.”

“I would imagine,” Bridgette replied. She crossed her arms and leaned back against the bathroom wall, checking her phone for the time. They had an hour before the dance. Soon she would need to go set up the food. The doorbell rang, and before Bridgette could hobble around to the door, Marinette flew out the bathroom past her. With her ankle still hurting, but otherwise okay, it made moving a little stiff. She had used some kt tape to help keep the pressure where it needed to be.

Thankfully, she found some tape that was black, so it didn’t clash too badly with her soft pink blouse and black slacks. And if she wore the short black ankle boots you wouldn’t really even see the tape, so it all worked out really. She couldn’t shake how silly she felt dressing up and hoping that she might be able to catch Felix’s eye. She had Hei Mao. She had a curse to think of. But then if she had those, she couldn’t have Felix. She owed it to her partner to figure out how to break that curse. But she knew in her heart she wanted Felix. 

“Gah!” she exclaimed at the ceiling. Alya and Marinette both popped their heads in to check on her.

“Everything okay Bri?” Marinette asked.

Bri looked over at the two teens. How she envied their relationships.

“Yeah, I mean kind of. I am still just not over the other day.”

“The akuma?” Marinette asked softly.

“No, I am over that,” Bridgette waved her hands for emphasis. “Dying was weird but not the worst. No, Felix.” 

The two teens exchanged a look. “Why don’t we all sit in my room and finish getting ready while you tell us about it?” Marinette suggested.

“Yeah, maybe it will help to talk to someone about it?” Alya chimed in.

Bridgette just shook her head. “No, I just need to sort out what I want to do. He left the ball in my court, and I kind of told him what I wanted to do, but also not. So I just need to decide if I want to date him or… the guy from my book club.”

Alya nodded, “Oof. That’s rough. Well, you know where we are if you want to talk about it.”

Mari smiled at her cousin one last time before running off with her friend to finish getting ready. Bridgette just smiled at them as they ran up the stairs. It reminded her of the times she would get ready with her friend Melody before going out for a night of dancing. Maybe she should message her and catch up. Kiki flew out and gave her holder a quick hug on the cheek. 

“What was that for?” Bridgette giggled.

“Just wanted you to feel better and smile. I promise things aren’t as hard as you might think they are,” the kwami said. 

“Have I ever told you that you speak in riddles?” Bridgette asked.

“Hmmm… no, not really,” the kwami replied. She tried to stay serious but broke out into giggles soon after. “You do look very pretty tonight Bridgette. I am always here if you need to talk or some support.” 

Bridgette smiled at her little companion. She was truly a friend that she couldn’t imagine ever having, but also one she couldn’t imagine life without at this point. She looked back down at her phone to see the time. It was about time for her to head out to the park to set up. She put her phone in her pockets and took one last breath to herself. She could do this. She put on her boots and took one last glance in the mirror by the door. She looked good. Felix would be sure to notice. No, that she was sure what she would do with Felix when she saw him. She could kiss him senseless or just ignore him. Really she was feeling both ways here.

She made her way down to the bakery and started moving through the motions. She hummed, delighted to get lost in some work as she finished the small details on a few mini cakes. She also made sure that everything was wrapped up just as it needed to be. She checked the clock once more. Felix would be here in five minutes, not that she was keeping track. But he was always punctual. So he should be here in five minutes. Really four and a half at this point. But _she wasn’t_ keeping track.

Bridgette began to fidget with the various catering supplies that sat out on the main center island. The snacks were here, the drinks, everything was ready, she just needed to start loading it into the cart to take across the street to the park. She decided that she might as well go get it from the shed out back that housed the larger catering supplies. Dusting her hands off one last time, she walked over to the side door and yanked it open.

Felix stood on the other side, a fist raised as if about to knock. A red blush spread across his face as soon as their eyes met and he slowly lowered his hand.

“Bri,” he whispered in a way that almost made Bridgette believe it was more of a breath than a word. He stood in front of her, in a dark blue dress shirt, and black slacks. The blue making his eyes pop from behind his wire-frame glasses. _He must be out of contacts,_ she thought to herself. His hair was done up in a way that was slightly more wild than his normal. It reminded her almost of Hei Mao. Oh yeah, she wanted to kiss him. There was no doubt now. 

“Uh, let me get out of your way.” Almost like a switch had been hit, he was moving out of her way and behaving as if it were just another day at work. As if he didn’t write her a letter that poured his heart out to her, and remind her of just how hard she had fallen for him to begin with. As if there hadn’t been that kiss between them just a few days prior. As if he had never once asked her to move in with him. 

“Bri, you okay?” A second voice snapped her out of her head. She looked over to see Adrien in a black suit and green tie, and his friend Nino in a similar green get up, but with more orange. 

“Ah, yeah, I am okay,” she smiled. She doubted anyone would believe her, but that was okay, she just had to hold it together. “I was just going to get the cart so we can start loading it. The girls are upstairs, Adrien. I am sure they would love to see you both and get some pictures before you all head out.” 

Both teenagers just nodded and then quickly moved past to run upstairs. Bri watched as the boys laughed and joked the whole way up, and out of sight. She smiled knowing that Marinette was going to have an amazing night.

“He wouldn’t shut up about how nervous he was the whole way here,” Felix muttered. He shook his head then looked back at Bridgette. “So Boss, where do we start?”

*****

Adrien ran up the stairs, with Nino. They had knocked on the door and were both waiting to be let in. The door opened and both boys were left breathless as they saw their dates. Marinette was standing there in a beautiful dress that had a red to black ombre. While the dress did go all the way up to her neck in the front, it had a large cutout in the back. It hugged her torso, and her hips, but flared slightly giving her more mobility. It was a beautiful piece, only made more radiant by the young woman wearing it. Adrien really couldn’t help the blush that spread across his traitorous face. Here he was trying to play it cool when his face had to go and give him away.

“Wow,” Nino said. Adrien looked over at his best friend who wore a similar stare of awe and amazement. It wasn’t hard to see why given that Alya was in a burnt orange cocktail dress that hugged her waist was ruched on one side. The sweetheart neckline rose up on one side to connect to a single sleeve. Marinette really outdid herself on making these dresses. 

Both boys were shaken from their awed state by Marinette and Alya giggling at them. Adrien’s blush melted into a gentle smile. Mari’s dimples were highlighted by the simple act of giggling and Adrien was lost in her laugh immediately. 

“So, pictures?” Adrien asked, pulling his phone out. 

“Yeah, pictures,” Marinette replied, sheepishly smiling up at him.

“The lighting would be best on ‘Nette’s balcony. The sun is getting ready to set!” Alya exclaimed, pulling both boys into the apartment. 

The four friends climbed up onto the balcony to take pictures. Adrien couldn’t help but think back on how fast and crazy this last month, hell, this last few weeks had been. He had gone from feeling so secluded and betrayed by his own father, to surrounded by his friends and found family. He had his brother, Lamont, the miraculous team, and Marinette. His sweet, amazing, wonderful Marinette. She helped him find the light in each day. She helped encourage him to try his best and helped him get to his appointments on time. She helped him so much in ways she didn’t even realize. He hoped that one day, once he was more steady on his feet, he could do the same for her. He hoped she would have him in her life long enough to prove that to her.

The teens all took pictures together, smiles turned into giggles, into laughs. The many photos they took together all blended into one another. A blur of fun. Each couple also took turns taking photos with just each other. Adrien posed for photos with Nino, as only the best bros could do. Arms slung over each other’s shoulders, all smiles and jokes, with the occasional dab. Then he posed with Alya. They stood back to back with sunglasses on, posed like Charlie’s Angels. They channeled their inner bad-ass and declared themselves the Marinette protection squad.

Finally, he posed with Marinette. They started with just the usual poses, standing awkwardly next to each other.

“Oh come on Sunshine, hold her like you love her!” Alya teased. 

Adrien could feel the blush spread across his face. He gently reached out and grabbed Marinette’s waist. He could see her blush too. 

“I-are you okay with this? I can move my hand if you want me to,” he stammered out. Marinette nodded, grabbing his hand and placing it back on her waist. She smiled gently up and leaned into him. He nuzzled his forehead against hers, reveling in the warmth they shared together. He momentarily forgot that other people were even with them as they snuggled close together. 

“You two are damn cute,” Nino snickered. 

Adrien could feel his cheeks heat back up again as he remembered the others on the balcony. It wasn’t even that he wasn’t used to people being around for pictures. He had been a model after all. But being around others while he was also so close to Marinette like this was all still so new to him.

His friends all giggled at him, and to his surprise, so did Marinette. His hand shot up to the back of his neck as he laughed himself. So this is what it felt like to just be a teenager. Not worrying about akumas and his father. Just happy to be with his friends and girlfriend. Wondering just how this dance will go. It was his first school dance that he was actually going to be able to go to, and he couldn’t wait. 

As both couples made their way down to the front door, Adrien got a sudden idea.

“Hey, you two go ahead. Mari and I promised to help with a few more small things for the bakery,” he said. He had really hoped that his tone was believable and that they didn’t question much. 

“Wait, Mari didn’t mention this before,” Alya stated, staring at her friends suspiciously. 

“Dude, if you just want to make-out with your girlfriend, you just had to say so,” Nino teased. 

“Ah, that isn’t it,” Adrien stammered. While it was true that making-out with his girlfriend was a constant high priority for him, it wasn’t what he had in mind. “We really do have one last thing we have to do for Felix and Bridgette.”

Marinette looked up at him quizzically.

“Oh, are you matchmaking?!” Alya squealed. 

That sealed his fate. There were two things Alya couldn’t stay out of; they were matchmaking and a good scoop for the Ladyblog. 

“It is, isn't it?” Marinette asked mischievously.

“Yeah, it is,” Adrien looked at his friends. All three faces shining in interest and determination, this was gonna happen. He smiled back, “Okay, if you guys want to help, here is the plan.” 

*****

Felix finished moving the tables into place as Bridgette brought the cart full of pastries and various other refreshments over. He had been doing his best to just be a good employee. And give Bridgette her space. Sure she had kissed him and broke his curse. But it could have been a heat of the moment thing. She had said the last thing she really remembered was reading Felix’s letter and Marinette and Adrien coming into the room, then a boom. Then she was surrounded by ladybugs and Felix was there, crying. 

He had to believe that she did it in the heat of the moment. She hadn’t said anything to him since. She hadn’t texted him or anything. He had given her space and time, that was what she wanted right? She didn’t really like him more than a friend before, so why would now be different? But then, again, she _did_ kiss him. He readjusted his glasses before glancing over at her. 

God, she was stunning. She was wearing slacks and a button-up blouse. And she looked amazing. She could have worn a dress but by all means that he could measure, Felix had decided this looked so much better. He found himself doing his best to not stare at the ways her pants hugged her hips so well. 

“Ah cats,” he mumbled to himself, dragging his hand down his face. Tonight was gonna be long. 

“Ah cats?” Bridgette giggled, “Sounds like Adrien is having an influence on you.”

Felix chuckled, “yeah, he has. And I am pretty thankful for that.”

Bridgette looked up at him, questions in her eyes, but silence on her tongue. 

“I just mean that out of everywhere he could have gone, and all things considered, I am glad I have him in my life.” Felix looked down at Bridgette and fought the urge to reach out and sweep hair out from her face and behind her ear. “I am glad I had the foresight to get a two-bedroom. It’s nice having someone to live with...really nice”

“O-oh,” Bridgette quickly stammered, looking down. Despite her quick response, Felix hadn’t missed her eyes widening, or the blush that spread across her face. _So she did read both letters then._ “W-we should get back to work,” she stammered. 

Felix smiled slightly to himself. God, she was so cute. “You got it, Boss,” he replied, and just got to work. He helped her set up the table, and before long they had everything in place. He walked over to a seating area nearby and grabbed two chairs, bringing them back to their table of goods. Even if she insisted she was fine, he wasn’t about to let Bri stand on her feet all night. Not with that ankle. 

Felix set both chairs down. He then stood to the side and gestured at them to Bridgette. She just looked at him like he was speaking some alien language. 

“Bri, sit,” he stated, once again gesturing at the chairs.

“Why? Also, are we allowed to have those? I think those are for the students,” she replied. 

Felix just glared at her over the top of his glasses. Sliding them up back into place on his face, he let out an audible sigh. 

“Bridgette, your ankle is not healed, just not long ago you not only were hurt but also very much injured in a way I would like to never remember,” he sighed, pinching his nose for dramatic effect. He was hoping that his exaggerated movements would help persuade her. “Please just sit in the chair, and prop up your foot.”

Bridgette’s face scrunched up in offense. “Wha-uh….” she went silent and just glared at him before stating resolutely, “no.”

Felix had to blink three times before her words processed. 

“What do you mean no?” he asked, doing his best to keep his tone neutral in case this was one of Bri’s signature stubborn moments. “There is no one here, you have no reason to not sit, other than to be contrary.” 

Her nostrils flared at the word contrary. Damn it, he should not have said that. She crossed her arms and huffed as she looked away from him and at the empty dance floor. It was still 15 minutes before the dance even started, so no one was there. There was literally no reason for her to be this stubborn unless it was to just be a pain in his ass. 

He closed the distance between them and put his hands on his hips. “Bridgette, I insist you sit, please do,” he said in his gentlest, but still professional tone.

“Or else what?” she challenged back, turning to look at him. She squared up and put her hands on her hips, the gleam of a dare shining in her eyes. 

Felix felt like there was a magnet pulling him towards her lips. No, he couldn’t. Shouldn’t. She hadn’t given him any sign that she wanted that. So instead, he thought back to himself, _Friends. We are friends._

“Or else what Felix?” she whispered at him. He hadn’t realized that he hadn’t said anything in reply yet. Instead, they stood there, just staring. He noticed her eyes dart all over his face. He started to lean down on instinct. _Nope!_ He thought to himself, redirecting his face from her lips to her ear.

“Then I will make you,” he whispered in her ear. 

Before she could reply in any way, he reached down and scooped her up. He then carried her over to the chairs and gently set her down. 

“Now sit please,” he finished, as he sat next to her. He did his best to school his breathing. Once again reminding himself that they are friends and professionals. There was no reason that they would be more than friends right now. Bridgette hadn’t really given him any reason to think that she might like him. After all, there was Mr. book-club—

_Wait, but she is Pinyin...Book Club guy who flirted with her… no, it couldn’t be me, could it?_

“So, how is Mr. book-club?” he asked her, trying to play it cool. He glanced over at her momentarily.

She looked at him with a slight look of bewilderment before shaking her head.

“I uh, I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him in a few days. And things have been a little strained with him,” she stated, looking back away. She crossed her arms over her chest.

“What do you mean strained?” Felix asked, his voice softer now.

“It is just that, um, we have to frequently...work on projects together,” she replied, her voice so small and unsure. “So I don’t know how good of an idea flirting or anything would be.”

“But if you like him, shouldn’t you at least try?” he questioned. He had no idea why he was rooting for book club guy at this point. Other than he could maybe _be_ book club guy. But she couldn’t know that. 

“Well, I mean, kind of. It is kind of complicated,” she said, waving her hand around for emphasis, “There are other factors at play like the whole curse—ing! The cursing thing!”

 _Oh yeah, I am book club guy_ , Felix thought to himself. “Cursing thing? Is he not okay with you cursing?” Felix did his best to ask in a way that sounded protective and not at all like he had just figured out their superhero connection.

Brigette just sat there nodding her head for a moment. She opened her mouth several times as if to say something, but then closed it before saying, “exactly. He doesn’t like me cursing. He says a lady should never curse.”

“Well that is bullshit,” Felix replied, smirking at her.

“Absolute bullshit,” she said back at him. 

He couldn’t help himself; he let out a small laugh at that last bit. He knew she was lying. And it wasn’t just because he had connected the pieces to figure out that Hei Mao was the Book Club guy. No, he could tell by the way her left hand twirled her hair and how she wouldn’t meet his eyes. 

Eventually, his laugh turned into both of them laughing. And for a moment, Felix felt hopeful that maybe she could love him for him. Not just the suave Hei Mao he paraded around as. True, he could be more charismatic with the benefit of anonymity, there is courage that can be found in minimal consequences. But it wasn’t how he was always, in many ways, Hei Mao was just a character. Maybe his letter did make a difference. At the very least, he could be honest with her. 

“So, think you will be okay to man the shop without me?” Felix asked, hoping the switch in topic wouldn’t be too jarring. 

“Pft,” Bridgette scoffed. Her cheeks turned a deep red, visible in the light of the setting sun, highlighting her freckles. He could feel himself melt just a little inside. “You know, I think I will somehow survive, but only because the bakery is on break. And because Aunt and Uncle will be back next week.”

“Good,” he smiled, “I am glad things will be okay then.”

“What, worried I can’t survive without you?” she teased.

Felix felt his cheeks flush at her question. Did she mean it that way?

“Uh, something like that,” he mumbled. He brought his hand up, to cover part of his face as he looked away. 

A small silence lingered, and god how he hoped the ground would open up and swallow him. That was such a stupid reply. But then again she had caught him off guard. He felt her soft fingers against his cheek.

“Felix, please look at me,” she whispered. 

The butterflies in his stomach told him not to, but he turned his head anyway. 

“Yes, Bri?” he managed to whisper back. He leaned his cheek instinctively into her hand.

“The Bakery will manage,” she started, “but I can’t live without you. Not again. Please promise me you won’t ice me out when you go to your new job?”

Felix could feel the sincerity in her eyes. He knew he shouldn’t pursue her as Felix if he ever wanted to break her curse. But Hei Mao wasn’t here. Hei Mao wasn’t the one who she was looking at with vulnerability and love in her eyes. Hai Mao wasn’t the one she just said she couldn’t live without. For better or worse, Felix would have to put his courage to the sticking place if he wanted to be happy.

He reached his hand up, and gently cupped her face, tilting it up to more aline with his. Without a second thought, he leaned in and kissed her. A tender, love-filled kiss. It wasn’t the soul-crushing world-ending kind she had kissed him with. It was much more subdued in its passion, but then again so was he.

“I love you, Bridgette Cheng,” he breathed before going in for one more kiss.

They broke apart once more, resting with their foreheads together. 

“I love you too Felix,” she replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It should be noted that the last half of this was written on New Years Eve and while I was under the influence of my own bartending. I make strong drinks and I like my whiskey. Also, cause I am stubborn and wanted this out now, this was not beta'd. I am the only one who looked it over.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone,  
> This is the first fic I have written. I usually write poetry, so something long-form is still kind of new to me. This all started as an idea of what I wanted to read while browsing Ao3, and then when I couldn't find it, I figured I should just try to write it. Thanks to Kudaranai Kyo (https://kudaranaikyo.tumblr.com/) and Taliax (https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taliax/works) for the encouragement!  
> I would like to say that I was inspired by several sibling and mentor AUs on Tumblr. Especially Edorazzi's stuff (https://edorazzi.tumblr.com/) so go check them out if you haven't already. There are other various HC posts that I don't remember who wrote them that inspired me as well. If I straight up used an idea (which I don't think I did) just let me know, please. I have tried to write everyone as in character as I can, so please bear with me. I don't own any of this, this is all just me writing after work usually while just chilling with my cats. If this gets enough support, or if it doesn't and I just feel like it, I will try to update on a schedule.


End file.
